Courtesy of MTA
Renditions of the new electric buses.
By Michael V. Cusenza
A Metropolitan Transportation Authority depot will feature charging stations for electric buses as part of the MTA green bus pilot program announced last week by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The program is set to launch with a total of 10 buses this December. As part of the new pilot, the MTA has secured Board approval to lease the first five electric buses. A lease for an additional five buses will be presented to the agency Board later this year. The pilot program will test the performance of the electric buses in the five boroughs and evaluate the results to determine future orders of all-electric buses.
Six charging stations will be installed in the Grand Avenue Bus Depot & Central Maintenance Facility, where the buses will be recharged overnight. According to the MTA, the first leg of the pilot will also include one ‘en-route’ charging station, which will be located at Williamsburg Bridge Plaza in Brooklyn, and be used to extend the range of the buses by quickly recharging without having to return to the depot. The plaza is the hub for nine routes in Brooklyn. These routes could also be used to evaluate All-Electric Bus service over the course of the three-year pilot.
The program is, according to the agency, intended to provide the MTA and manufacturers of electric buses with actionable data on what works best in New York’s metropolitan environment. The MTA will use the results from the pilot to refine and develop bus specifications for future electric bus procurements to ensure buses are fully able to meet the rigors of operating in the city. As a result, the initial lease and evaluation of buses does not eliminate any other builders from future competitive procurements.
After a study of best practices from systems across the US and around the world, the MTA has identified two vendors to manufacture a total of 10 electric buses, which will be leased for test and evaluation over a period of three years in the five-borough operating environment. The first of those vendors, Proterra, was selected to provide overnight charging electric buses which will be operated on routes including the B39 and B32 in Brooklyn.
Use of the Grand Avenue facility is part of the $4 million, three-year lease with Proterra.
The lease of an additional five buses from a second vendor, New Flyer, with en-route opportunity charging, will be presented to the MTA Board later this year. The New Flyer buses will operate on the M42 bus route in Manhattan. These contracts are subject to Board approval as well as review and approval by the Office of the State Comptroller.
The MTA noted that electric buses are fundamentally more quiet and efficient than gas engines, and make their immediate environment cleaner by eliminating car exhaust.
“As we continue to transform and reimagine the MTA, it is critical that we focus on long-term sustainability,” Cuomo said. “With this, we are taking one more step toward reducing New York’s greenhouse gas emissions, fight climate change and help secure a cleaner greener future for all.”
