On October 28, 2020, Mercer County Regional Council of Governments (MCRCOG) held a ribbon cutting for the opening of the Hermitage Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fueling station, the 17th transit agency station to be opened as part of PennDOT's CNG Public-Private Partnership (P3) project. In total, 19 stations have been completed to-date. Completed in July 2020, the project included construction of the CNG compressor compound and fueling island and building modifications to maintenance and storage areas to accommodate CNG vehicles. Currently, Hermitage has one CNG vehicle, operation of which could result in an annual $10,000 in fuel savings when compared to the price of diesel fuel.
The Bureau of Public Transportation manages a $70 million P3 that will provide CNG fueling infrastructure for 24 transit agencies throughout the Commonwealth.
In June 2016 PennDOT contracted with a private developer, Trillium CNG, to design, build, operate, and maintain fueling sites until April 2037. This project allows participating transit agencies to convert vehicle fleets to CNG, saving more than $5 million annually. Six sites will allow for public fuel sales where consumers can access CNG fuel. PennDOT will receive a 15 percent royalty, excluding utilities and taxes, for each gallon of fuel sold to the public at public sites over the 20-year contract.
To date, more than six million Gas Gallon Equivalents (GGEs) have been pumped into transit agency vehicles across the project. This has resulted in nearly $3 million in savings when compared to the cost of purchasing diesel fuel, enabling transit agencies to direct fuel savings to providing additional operations.