The fleet has had to travel either to downtown Los Angeles or Burbank to refuel since losing its compressed natural gas facility in 2006, which was closed prematurely in advance of the Fairmont flyover bridge currently under construction.
The agreement with Clean Energy to foot the majority of the bill for construction and maintenance of the facility for up to 20 years received a hearty endorsement from local environmentalists and drivers of compressed natural cars.
“It’s overdue to have this facility in Glendale,” said Nancy Kent, who has long advocated for environmental issues at City Hall.
The fueling station is slated for the southeast corner of the Glendale Amtrak/Transportation Center parking lot on Gardena Avenue, which is adjacent to the future multimillion dollar Public Works transportation maintenance yard.
Due for completion in April, the station is also expected to shave refueling time for private motorists.
Scott Lowe, who drives a compressed natural gas-powered Honda Civic GX, praised the coming fueling station — and the 16-mile round trips to refuel in Burbank that would no longer find their way onto his odometer.
“Usually, I’m competing with Beeline buses that are there,” he said. “I think it’s a great idea. ... and I look forward to being there.”
The lack of a refueling station in Glendale hasn’t gone unnoticed at Colonial Honda, which has sold relatively few Civic GXs to nongovernmental buyers — just eight in the past six months, said Mike Cirona, sales manager at the dealership.
“That’s come up for discussion more than once with our customers,” he said.
