In what it called a “big surprise” Monday morning, Colorado Springs School District 11 announced that it has begun using a first-of-its-kind school bus that is powered by propane.

The 2013 Blue-Bird Propane-Powered Vision school bus was leased by the district through a lease-to-buy contract with Colorado West, a subsidiary of Blue Bird Corp. The bus will cost the district $20,000 over the next year, and if the district chooses to buy it, that money will be deducted from the bus’s total price tag of $97,000.

D-11 spokeswoman Devra Ashby said similar buses have been used in Arizona and in Steamboat Springs, and that a school in Arizona saved 21 cents per mile by switching to propane buses.

Ashby said the district is going to evaluate the bus for a year, and after that may purchase more of them, but right now the cash-strapped school isn’t committing to any more.

Aside from being powered by propane, the bus is the same as regular diesel-powered buses, said Ashby. It’s an addition to the fleet, and does not replace any buses.

The district has been exploring propane-powered buses since the 1990s, said Ashby, but until now, no models looked viable. One attempt in 1994 was a hybrid vehicle powered by both propane and gasoline, but the district decided it was too inefficient.

School District 11 propane-powered bux Photo by School District 11