Cities testing Electric Busses

[verttoit]

Hey everyone,

Over here in the Province of Quebec we have an island located just north of the city of Montreal called Laval.

This borough recently started testing for Public Transit Electric busses
The coolest part is they charge at bus stops.
Read more on the full blog here:




So now the question for everyone, has your city started using electric powered Busses for your public transit system?

[ColDayMan]

Started? We've had them since 1933! We've had electric streetcar-to-bus service since 1888.

Dayton

[llamaorama]

Denver, Chattanooga, and Norfolk have had downtown circulator buses which are battery-electric for a long time. It's been a thing since the 1980s AFAIK. They are much quieter and do not have exhaust, which is nice if a bus is going by literally every 30 seconds like on the transit mall in Denver.

How is Dayton's trolley bus system doing? I have been aware of it for a while, I always thought it must be unique since those things are uncommon in most places, let alone a small city like Dayton.

[Busy Bee]

^Have those Russian(?) trolleybuses held out better than the old ones (AMGeneral?) ?

[ColDayMan]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

How is Dayton's trolley bus system doing? I have been aware of it for a while, I always thought it must be unique since those things are uncommon in most places, let alone a small city like Dayton.

It's doing fine. They were rehabbing some buses the past couple of years but pretty much all the trolley routes are back.

[fflint]

San Francisco's fleet of electric buses carry over 200,000 passengers a day.


http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3072/3...7b93f606_z.jpg

[zolk]

Chicago will begin testing two battery-electric powered buses from New Flyer later this year.

[Busy Bee]

Speaking of Chicago, does anyone know the definitive reason Chicago scrapped their trolleybus routes? The CTA ran trolleybuses on some of the streetcar routes well into the 70's.

[1ajs]

Originally Posted by zolk

Chicago will begin testing two battery-electric powered buses from New Flyer later this year.

really? cool those are made in winnipeg


anyhow eltric bus's have been around a long time... proper name is trolly bus i be-leave though

[TedBell]

Researchers at Utah State University have brought inductive charging to US mass transit with an electric bus capable of recharging itself at each stop. As Wired reports, charging plates underneath each stop routinely juice up the battery inside the bus at several points along its route.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/3/37...n-charging-bus

[FREKI]

I remember unwired electrical buses here in the late 80's/early 90's - they were very noisy inside with a anoying tone increasing and decreasing in pitch as it accelerated and deccelerated.. ( especially inthe back )

Then they tried wired trolley buses on some lines but they lacked the flexibility so eventually they went back to diesel..

Now it's a mix, some fully electrical, some hybrids, some Hydrogen and some diesel..

[The Chemist]

Shanghai's got a few electric trolley buses, but also has supercapacitor buses and battery electric buses.

[SFUVancouver]

Vancouver's Translink operates two models of electric buses (standard 12m/40' and articulated 18m/60') and sees daily ridership of a touch above 200,000 boardings (source). The current fleet was introduced in the mid 2000s, the prior fleet was from the early 1980s, and the original fleet, which took over from streetcars, was introduced in the 1950s.


Source


Source

[scalziand]

Launch set for new WRTA electric buses

By John J. Monahan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
jmonahan@telegram.com



The Worcester Regional Transit Authority is expected to announce Thursday that it will begin using all electric, no-emission buses on some of its routes, with the addition of six new plug-in all-electric buses to its fleet.

Gov. Deval L. Patrick will attend the WRTA board meeting to celebrate the launch of the new buses and make an announcement relative to new state investments in alternative fuel vehicle programs.

The new acquisition adds six new Proterra plug-in buses to the regional transit service.

"We are committed to using innovative strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, bolster our energy independence and grow our clean energy economy," Mr. Patrick said. "The WRTA's new fleet is an example of how we are accelerating the adoption of cleaner vehicles throughout Massachusetts to reduce harmful pollutants and promote a more sustainable environment for future generations."

The WRTA purchased the buses with more than $7 million in federal funds and matching state grants from the state Department of Transportation. Once they are put on the road, the buses will represent the largest fleet of Proterra all-electric buses in the nation, officials said.

The WRTA currently has a fleet of 51 buses, including six electric, 16 diesel-electric hybrid buses, 29 clean diesel, serving 28 fixed routes in Worcester and 12 of the surrounding communities, according to the WRTA's website.

Each of the new buses is expected to eliminate 130 more tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year by replacing diesel fuel buses. The fleet will also reduce petroleum fuel consumption, eliminate other harmful pollutants and cut operating costs by nearly $3 million over 12 years, according to state transportation officials.

http://www.telegram.com/article/2014...79863/0/SEARCH

[mrnyc]

mta is testing out electric busses from china.
fyi diesel busses cost $450k and electric (non-trolley) busses run $800k.

http://m.nydailynews.com/1.1455731

[Muji]

LA's Metro decided last year to purchase 25 electric buses from BYD. I don't think they'll hit the road until 2015, but they will probably look much like MTA's in New York, but in orange. Another local agency, LADOT, is currently testing a smaller BYD bus on one of its routes as well.

Link to press release: http://thesource.metro.net/2013/06/2...ransit-riders/

[Aylmer]

We has some here in Aylmer (just outside of Ottawa, Canada) for a few months. They're surprisingly noisy, arguably more than a modern diesel bus. Another problem is that the batteries take up a lot of space; not a problem for low-ridership areas, but with our overcrowded buses pushing 30% modal-split (almost 50% towards Downtown at rush-hour), we need every m².

For the moment, I still prefer trolleybuses and surface LRT for mid-capacity electric transit, but I'm glad to see the technology progressing.