Because of its purchase of hybrid vehicles in 2011, the Alexandria Transit Company (DASH) in Alexandria, VA, has earned recognition from the city’s Department of Transportation & Environmental Services, Office of Environmental Quality, for one of the city’s top 10 environmental achievements during the year.

DASH will replace the oldest vehicles in its fleet with the seven 35-foot hybrid buses and three 40-foot hybrid buses it bought in 2011. The five 30-foot hybrid trolleys, purchased by the city, will enter service in April 2012, when DASH begins operating the free King Street Trolley that connects the King Street Metrorail Station with the Alexandria waterfront.

The hybrid vehicles will operate on an environmentally-friendly mix of ultra-low-sulfur diesel and electricity. DASH purchased the buses primarily with Commonwealth of Virginia State Urban Funds, also partnering with the city and receiving an Environmental Protection Agency grant that funds the difference—approximately $200,000 per bus—in the cost between the hybrid technology and a conventional diesel-powered engine. The city used American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funds for the hybrid trolleys.

Other achievements in the city’s top 10 include the upcoming closure of a utility company’s electricity generating station on the Potomac River; use of green construction processes and implementation of a green building policy; and the city’s national recognition as a Silver-Level Walk Friendly Community by the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center.