Lawrence city leaders are putting the brakes on plans to purchase new buses for their public transportation fleet to give another look at using compressed natural gas as a power source.

The city had planned to buy three diesel and diesel-electric hybrid buses, but the lower cost of natural gas is prompting a second look.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that officials want to rethink the decision based on fuel costs.

A feasibility study four years ago compared the fuel costs, but it was before natural gas prices dropped and supplies increased.

A federal agency says the average price for diesel fuel nationally is about $3.90 per gallon. By comparison, compressed natural gas sells for about $2.10, and as low as $1 per gallon in some regions of the country.
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Information from: Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World,