That will boost the number of electric buses in the fleet to eight.
Frederick, Md (KM) Some more electric buses could be traveling local roads in the future. TransIT of Frederick County has received a federal grant of $1.5-million to purchase three new electric buses
Kendall Tiffany, Community Relations Manager for TransIT, says the agency purchased five buses a few years ago, and also has two hybrid electric vehicles. “The current ones that we have helped us save money on fuel and maintenance, since electric is cheaper than paying for fuel on a diesel bus,”: she says. “There’s always environmental and emission savings so they don’t spew out smoke or anything like that, like the diesel buses do.”
The grant comes from the Federal Transit Administration and comes from a fund totaling $84.45-million. The FTA wants the money to be used for projects which advance bus technology projects across the country which use propulsion technologies. 40 grants were awarded nationwide, and Frederick County was the only jurisdiction in Maryland to receive a grant.
A local match of $165,000 was put by the Maryland Department of Energy’s Smart Energy Grant Program.
Tiffany says the electric buses have been well received around the county. “It’s attracted different people to have an interest in TransIT that might not otherwise have an interest in public transit. The technology is different, and it’s something new and innovative in Frederick,” she says.
She was asked if one day all of TransIT’s buses will be electric. “It would be pretty awesome to go that route, especially with emission savings and cost savings,” Tiffany says. “As technology improves, I’m sure that lengths that a bus can run will be much longer. It will be great to see more that route that’s why we’re excited to get three more of them in our fleet.”
Because it takes about a year to build an electric bus, Tiffany says TransIT will probably take delivery on the three new vehicles in late 2019, or early 2020.
By Kevin McManus