The bus that eats veggies

By JODI HAUSEN Chronicle Staff Writer

Temporary Bozeman resident Ric Garcia is a dumpster-diver and though he’s looking for food, of sorts, it’s not food he plans on eating. Rather, Garcia uses waste vegetable oil to fuel his retired Washington state school bus.

Unlike biodiesel, the only thing Garcia needs to do to the vegetable oil is filter it, and the bus’s unique engine does the rest.

In 2006 while living in Seattle, Garcia transformed the bus at Frybrid, a company that specializes in converting conventional engines into vegetable oil engines using diesel as a starting and warming component. Garcia bought the bus for $600, he said.

He was inspired when, at a Seattle party, he met actor Woody Harrelson who had come with his own “go further” vegetable-oil-powered bus. At the time, Garcia had a Volkswagen van but it wasn’t big enough, he said. He saw Harrelson’s rig and said, “I want one.”

In addition to changing over the engine, Garcia, 31, renovated the interior of the bus to be a camper complete with propane-powered appliances and lights and solar panels that provide power to lights and a stereo when the bus isn’t running.

He removed just about everything but saved the driver’s seat and the original backseats. At the front of the bus, at the end of what would be the aisle, a sign still hangs above the windshield, reminding would-be school bus riders of their responsibilities.

“Riding the bus is a privilege,” it says. “1) Obey the bus driver at all times, 2) Remain safely seated/speak softly use no profanity, 3) Respect people and property, 4) Keep head/hands and all objects inside the bus, 5) eating and drinking are not allowed on the bus.”

Although the rules have certainly changed, there were just some throwbacks Garcia had to retain including its name. Bus #3 was the school district’s moniker for the vehicle.

“It just came like that and I didn’t want to change it,” he said.

Garcia has logged about 11,400 miles on the bus since 2006, taking it throughout the Western states. He landed in Bozeman during HATCHfest this fall and has decided to stay through the winter.

He aspires to be a filmmaker and a “combat journalist,” he said, and the bus provides him opportunities to travel and meet new people. Garcia is documenting his journey in videos that he plans to post on his Web site, www.businmotion.com.

“I just really enjoy driving the bus,” he said.

Jodi Hausen can be reached at jhausen@dailychronicle.com or 582-2630.

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