Several years ago the University of Florida began studies of hybrid vehicles under the sponsorship of the State of Florida Department of Transportation. Initially they designed and built a small gasoline-electric hybrid automobile. The program was later expanded to the design and construction of a hybrid diesel-electric bus with funding provided by UMTA for the demonstration phase of the project. Extensive testing of the bus was conducted over the last two years. The vehicle was also placed in service in Gainesville for a considerable part of this time. In January, 1977, UMTA asked EPA to conduct emission and fuel economy tests of the hybrid bus.