BP announced it has entered into an agreement to supply the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) with a cleaner-burning diesel fuel for the agency's entire bus fleet. At a news conference in Ann Arbor July 24, a ceremonial first gallon of BP ECD, Emissions Control Diesel, an ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel produced at BP's Toledo, OH, refinery, was presented to the AATA. That gallon represents the first of nearly 1 million gallons of the cleaner-burning fuel that will be used by AATA buses every year. Known locally as "The Ride," the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority now operates the first public transit fleet in the Midwest to run exclusively on BP's ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel. According to BP, the introduction of BP ECD to the Ann Arbor bus fleet marks an important step in the authority's efforts at reducing vehicle emissions. Use of ultra low sulfur diesel will result in an immediate 10-percent reduction in particulate emissions in the existing bus fleet. Later, as newer buses equipped with next-generation engine management systems and particulate filters come into the AATA fleet, emission reductions from individual buses can reach 90 percent compared to earlier operations. BP's ECD ultra-low sulfur diesel is a specially formulated fuel produced in advance of federal standards for diesel fuels set to take effect in 2006. BP ECD has been supplied to bus fleets in California for more than two years and more recently as part of a pilot program in Cleveland.