NIU’s Transportation Department was held up as an example of environmental responsibility in “We are the Weather Makers: The History of Climate Change,” the new book by DeKalb-based author Tim Flannery.
Director of Transportation Bill Finucane has helped the university assemble the largest fleet of hybrid vehicles of any stage agency. More than one-third of all university motor-pool sedans are hybrids, using an electric motor to offset gasoline use.
The university police department is also believed to be the first in the nation to have a fleet comprised entirely of hybrids. The department also makes extensive use of vehicles that run on alternative fules, such as ethanol and biodiesel.
The department also was lauded for its extensive recycling efforts – including shipping old fuel drums to the School of Music to be turned into instruments for the nationally acclaimed steelpan studies program, which makes steel drums for the NIU Steel Band.