October 17, 2006

Syracuse, NY – The Central New York Regional Transportation Authority (CNYRTA) is saving money on its energy bills after undertaking an energy mitigation project that has helped reduce the amount of energy used by the Authority.

The Authority’s energy bills have decreased by about 20 percent compared to the same time last year. During the past year, the CNYRTA has made significant changes to help reduce energy usage:

• Replaced 1,260 lights at the transit center with more efficient bulbs.
• Removed five older heating and ventilating units and installed four energy-efficient models.
• Replaced 31 heat pumps with new, higher efficiency units.
• Upgraded its energy management system.
• Installed 40 new infrared radiant heaters to take the place of older air handling units.

“This helps stabilize energy costs for an agency that millions of riders depend on every year,” said Frank Kobliski, CNYRTA executive director. “We owe it to our passengers and supporters to be constantly vigilant about controlling costs.”

Centro said it expects to save more than 713,000 kilowatthours of electricity and 5.5 million cubic feet of natural gas per year once all the improvements are completed. A kilowatthour is the amount of electricity required to power ten 100-watt light bulbs for one hour. It takes about 1,000 cubic feet of gas to heat a typical home on a very cold day in the winter.

The energy efficiency work was performed by Siemens Building Technologies, Inc., a global company with local offices in Syracuse. Siemens makes buildings comfortable, safe and less costly to operate so clients can concentrate on their core functions.

“Centro is the type of project we look for,” said Pat McParlane, Siemens general manager for energy services and environmental solutions. “Everybody wins. Centro wins reduced costs. Siemens wins a relationship with a critical public agency. The community wins a better environment because of reduced stress on the local electric grid.”

Centro operates more than 250 transit vehicles in Onondaga, Cayuga, Oneida, and Oswego Counties. It carries more than 12 million passengers per year and makes 4,000 daily trips

“Ridership is increasing,” Kobliski said. “We can’t be sure if this is because of rising gasoline costs or not. We can’t control those. But we can take steps to save energy elsewhere in our operations. This is a good example of what we’re doing.