Gillig Corporation - Alternative Fuels

Alternative Fuels

In 1992, Gillig began producing an LNG fueled version of the Phantom in an attempt to produce a low-emissions transit bus, but this was later discontinued. The only LNG Phantoms in existence currently operate shuttle service at Los Angeles International Airport and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

In 1996, Gillig introduced a diesel-electric hybrid powered Phantom, which they produced until 2006. The Low Floor bus is now offered in a hybrid powered version as the company continues to focus its efforts on "clean diesel" technology.

In September 2011, Gillig introduced an alternative fuel BRT model with a CNG propulsion, which is their first CNG-powered bus produced and first production natural gas buses since 1998. Long Beach Transit used purchased a pilot bus in 2011 and placed an order for 63 more in 2012, bringing the total to 64 buses.

Although Gillig has never built an electric trolley bus (ETB), in 2001-2002 the company supplied 100 body/chassis shells to Seattle's King County Metro Transit for the latter to equip as trolley buses. Really more than just shells, these Phantom buses were shipped by Gillig complete in almost every way (including interior fittings such as seats) except lacking any propulsion equipment and other ETB-only features such as trolley poles. The Seattle transit agency, Metro, removed the propulsion packages from its old fleet of 1979-built AM General trolley coaches (G.E. traction motor, Randtronics chopper control, and electronic card cage), which the Gillig vehicles were purchased to replace, and shipped them to Alstom (in New York) for refurbishment. After receiving the refurbished propulsion equipment back from Alstom, Metro installed it in the new Gillig Phantom bodies, along with Vossloh-Kiepe pneumatically operated fiberglass trolley poles.