Conn. to buy 22 electric buses
NEW HAVEN — Thanks in part to a $11.4 million grant from the federal government, residents of New Haven and other Connecticut cities can look forward to seeing more clean energy CTtransit buses on the streets.
The state will add 22 electric buses to its fleet, officials announced Friday at a press conference by the city green. Once the vehicles arrive, Connecticut will have a total of 34 electric public transit buses, according to Richard Andreski, the public transit bureau chief for the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
In total, officials say it will cost $25.7 million to add the 22 buses, a price tag that includes retrofitting garages. The $11.4 million grant, which comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration’s Buses and Bus Facilities Program, will help offset the price tag — and other funds could, too.
Andreski and U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., indicated the purchase marks a step toward a larger goal: turning the entire state fleet, which consists of over 800 buses, electric.
With two electric buses parked behind him, Murphy said he expects Connecticut will receive additional grants “to continue this process of phasing out diesel buses.”
“We have to commit as a human race to do something about the pace of climate change,” he said.
The senator listed a number of other benefits associated with electric buses.
“These buses also are more reliable than diesel buses,” Murphy said. “Electric buses in the long run are cheaper. (They) aren’t held hostage by the price of gasoline.”
He said electric vehicles can help Americans avoid situations like the one we currently face, where a war in Ukraine is contributing to rising energy costs due to the country’s dependence on foreign oil.
It will take about 18 months to get the new buses on the road, according to Andreski. They will serve Hartford, Stamford, Bridgeport and New Haven.
Readying the state for an electric fleet also means retrofitting garages to accommodate the vehicles, Andreski said.
“It’s about making sure the garages are equipped with chargers,” he said.
One reason New Haven is receiving buses is because of a modern garage in nearby Hamden capable of servicing them, according to Andreski. But the state aims to ultimately give each of its garages a makeover, he said.
The end goal of going all-electric has its challenges. While Andreski says electric buses are less expensive in the long run thanks to the lack of gasoline costs and cheaper maintenance costs, the vehicles themselves are pricier than diesel-fueled buses.
Generally, diesel-fueled buses cost $650,000, Andreski said, while electric buses cost between $950,000 and $1 million.
One benefit of putting grant money toward electric
vehicles is that it should lower the price of those vehicles by “guaranteeing a supply chain” for bus makers, Murphy said.
Asked how long it might take to turn Connecticut’s fleet entirely electric, Murphy said, “the timeline is all
dependent on how fast the price falls.”
But he hopes that in a decade, between 50 and 100 percent of the state fleet will be electric, he said.