Cleaner transportation is coming to rural Missouri, thanks to a joint effort by UMR and several federal agencies.

The state’s first two hydrogen-powered shuttle buses, built by Ford Motor Co., took their first passengers on July 31 from UMR’s Havener Center to the Hy-Point Industrial Park in Rolla. The hydrogen-powered buses are an integral part of the first rural test site for the federal government’s hydrogen-technology program.

Currently, the hydrogen is supplied from a mobile hydrogen fueler built by Air Products and Chemicals Inc. and installed at the Hy-Point Industrial Park. Plans call for the state’s first permanent hydrogen-fueling station to be built in St. Robert by 2008. The station will provide both the fuel for a commuter service for nearby Fort Leonard Wood employees along the Interstate 44 corridor and a test bed for demonstrating the safe generation, storage and dispensing of hydrogen.

Federal partners in this project include the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, National University Transportation Center, U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and the Defense Logistics Agency.