MTA Keeps Plugging Away with Plans for Bus Fleet to Go Electric

By Yehudit Garmaise

All of New York City’s buses will be powered electrically by 2040, if the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) stays on track to order 470 electric buses: with an option to double that order.

The state has allocated $1.1 billion to help the MTA complete place its first large-scale order of electric buses by the end of the year.

If New York City’s entire fleet of 5,800 buses completes its electric transition, NYC will boast the largest collection of buses to go electric in North America, Gothamist reported.

While electric buses do not emit toxic fumes that damage residents’ health and the environment, electric buses are quieter, safer, more comfortable, and easier to refuel than buses than run on diesel. 

The new battery-powered buses will include on-board batteries that all bus depots will be able to charge, the MTA said.

If a bus depot’s power goes down, the MTA is exploring additional options to power up the city’s buses such as, “battery trailer systems,” technology on the street and stored solar energy as back-ups.

In addition to buses’ electrification, which MTA officials will improve New Yorkers’ experience on the bus, the Port Authority Board is considering whether to implement other bus improvements, such as building dedicated busways and timing traffic lights to give bus drivers the right of way at the times at which they usually arrive at them.

Providing bus drivers with “signal priority” can ensure that buses do not remain stuck at red lights, wrote transit.dot.gov.

photo credit: Flickr