CityLink and B20 Club of Illinois Host Small-Scale Event on April 30

The Greater Peoria Mass Transit District (GPMTD)/CityLink and the B20 Club of Illinois hosted a small-scale media event on Friday, April 30, 2021 to celebrate the renewed partnership between the two organizations and Arbor Day. During this event, a tree planting ceremony took place in the front lawn of CityLink’s facilities located at 2105 NE Jefferson Ave, Peoria, IL 61603. The tree planted is an Eastern Redbud, which is a tree native to Illinois. The tree was purchased and planted by the B20 Club of Illinois in partnership with the American Lung Association and the Illinois Soybean Association.

Upon the conclusion of the tree planting ceremony, the media was invited to proceed to a rear parking lot located at CityLink facilities to view the new full bus wraps on two CityLink fixed route buses (2210 and 2211). During this time, representatives from CityLink and the Illinois Soybean Association made brief comments on this renewed partnership. Additional participating sponsors for the bus wraps are Ag-Land FS, Inc., the American Lung Association, the Illinois Soybean Association and the Tazewell County Farm Bureau.

L-R: Doug Roelfs, Dr. Maxine Wortham, & Art Bell from CityLink with Bailey Arnold from the B20 Club of Illinois at the tree planting ceremony.

CityLink’s first experience with alternative fuels came about in the early 1990s when CityLink partnered with several corn grower associations as part of a national ethanol research program. CityLink, or GP Transit as it was known back then, was the first and largest transit system in the country to operate transit buses on E85 ethanol — fueling 14 full-size buses on the renewable fuel.

In 2009, CityLink was approached by another partner, Ag-Land FS, to test the viability of using B20 biodiesel, a blend of 20% biodiesel and 80% ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel, fuel in a year-round, cold-climate application. Considering its aging fleet and a desire to reduce emissions, CityLink entered the trial with Ag-Land FS in the early months of 2009.

Since then, CityLink has consumed nearly 5 million gallons of cleaner-burning B20 biodiesel, reducing emissions equivalent to planting an estimated 134,000 trees.

The B20 Club of Illinois is a partnership of the Illinois Soybean Association and American Lung Association that recognizes a select group of Illinois-based fleets with a strong commitment to operate on biodiesel blends of B20 or greater.

To learn more on the long-standing partnership between CityLink and the B20 Club of Illinois, please visit the B20 Club Biodiesel page of this website.