It’s bus-buying season, DOTS officials said, and this university’s student government groups are starting to discuss the costs behind purchasing hybrid buses.

The Department of Transportation Services currently has four hybrid buses and buys about eight new standard buses each year, DOTS Director David Allen said.

The hybrids in use were purchased about five years ago, Allen said, after DOTS asked student representatives whether they wanted to pay for the costs of purchasing “greener” vehicles. Allen said DOTS compromised with indecisive students by purchasing four hybrid buses and four standard buses.

“The question is whether students want to pay more to convert all the buses to hybrid buses,” said Steven Chen, committee chairman for the Residence Hall Association’s Transportation Advisory Committee.

The hybrid buses cost about $800,000 apiece, almost twice the cost of a standard bus, Allen said. If DOTS purchased all new hybrid buses, the price could force an increase in mandatory student fees by about $10 per person, he said.

“While I generally support any and all efforts that move the university in a more sustainable direction, I am not too inclined to support this one,” Chen said. “I am aware that many students are sensitive to increases in tuition or fees, and I want to make sure that the increase in fees that we mandate yield the most benefits.”

Chen said he can’t know for sure whether students would support fee increases in exchange for hybrid buses until the RHA looks further into the matter, but he doesn’t expect them to.

In early discussions with DOTS, Chen said, there were also doubts about the benefits hybrid buses yield. Allen said that while hybrids produce about 20 percent fewer emissions, their engines are less reliable. Any extra maintenance costs would also be passed on to students, he said.

But Allen said standard buses can be far cleaner than they were five years ago because their diesel engines are made to be more efficient.

Ori Gutin, director of sustainability for the Student Government Association, said he recently reached out to ask Allen whether he had considered purchasing more hybrids to add to the DOTS fleet. Allen said he would compile any available information regarding the costs and benefits of hybrid buses and provide it to the RHA and SGA for consideration.

Gutin said he was eager to learn more about the issue, but it’s something that would require a lot of thought given its high potential costs.

“I mean, anything that we can do on campus to reduce emissions is great, and ideally, we’d like to do everything we can,” he said. “But there is the question of how can money be best distributed to achieve the highest impact.”

Gutin said if the hybrid buses do not seem as though they will provide adequate benefits in terms of supporting the campus goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, he would like to see DOTS spend students’ money in more cost-effective and meaningful ways.

“While in the future I would like to see all buses go green, the current cost of the hybrid buses makes supporting such a purchase difficult,” Chen said. “The money could definitely be put elsewhere.”

Allen said he would continue to consult with student government groups and it would ultimately be up to the students to decide how they want DOTS to proceed after considering the facts.

“It’s your system, you pay for it,” Allen said. “If students want to pay double for these buses, that’s up to them.”