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Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority unveiled three electric buses on Earth Day that will make their debut on the streets of Atlanta May 1 thanks to knowhow from around the world.
The buses are made by New Flyer Industries, a manufacturer based in Winnipeg, Canada, that has delivered 1,200 buses to MARTA since it started reducing emissions by purchasing compressed natural gas models starting in 1996.
The six 40-foot Excelsior CHARGE buses were underwritten by a $2.6 million federal government grant aimed at deploying more low- or no-emission buses. MARTA secured the funding in 2019 thanks to an application by the Center for Transportation and the Environment, or CTE, which is also based in Atlanta. The order was made in January 2021.
The first three buses to enter into service May 1 on routes 2 and 102 starting at MARTA’s North Avenue station, running to Poncey-Highland and Edgewood. The other three will follow later in the year. Additionally, $3.8 million has been set aside from a separate federal funding program to buy six more of the New Flyer battery-powered buses, bringing the total deployment to 12.
The electric buses will be charged and base out of MARTA’s Laredo maintenance facility in Decatur, which has a massive solar array, but plans also call for an overhead pantograph charger where the 102 line ends at Edgewood-Candler Park Station, according to blog post by CTE.
CTE’s bid for zero-emission bus funding included Siemens, the German energy and infrastructure giant, and Georgia Power as partners. Siemens operates an innovation center in Atlanta employing more than 200 people and recently unveiled a new charging station design — also with a Canadian partner.
CTE also said in a news release that it had helped 80 transit agencies including MARTA bid to secure zero-emission buses, but that this announcement was particularly sweet given the MARTA bus route runs just a few blocks away from the center’s Peachtree Street headquarters.
Electric buses are not new — Manitoba-based New Flyer first started providing battery power demonstrations top MARTA in 2017 — but they have grown more popular with improved charging infrastructure, more federal funding and heightened awareness about climate change.
“Our goal is to continue adding electric buses to the fleet to help combat climate change and reduce the public health impacts from air pollution, especially in our most vulnerable populations. The launch of our first electric buses is the perfect way to celebrate Earth Day and all of MARTA’s sustainability efforts,” said MARTA Interim General Manager and CEO Collie Greenwood in a news release.
Mr. Greenwood added electric buses are “ideal for routes that travel through dense urban corridors like the 2 and 102 – leaving no noise or emissions in their wake.”
MARTA is planning to apply for more funding for electric buses on new BRT routes in Clayton County and Atlanta’s Summerhill area that the authority with funding by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in November.
That $1.2 trillion spending plan strengthened Buy American rules that require least 55 percent in U.S.-made content for buses, rail cars, construction materials and other manufactured items going into federally funded projects. Most Canadian manufacturers, including New Flyer, now have U.S. factories largely for the purposes of compliance.
Competition is heating up: Quebec firms Lion Electric and Nova Bus (owned by Volvo) have showcased their buses in the Georgia cities of Savannah and Augusta, respectively. New Flyer, California-based Gillig and China’s BYD, which also makes buses for the U.S. market in California, have all taken part in a demonstration in Augusta, which is currently planning to electrify its transit fleet.
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