NJ Transit is making its first electric buses purchase. The transportation units are acquired by means of a $9.4 million contract with New Flyer of North America. The purchase consists of eight “zero emissions” battery-powered electric buses and parts.
As reported by nj.com, the transportation units will be used on a pilot program in Camden operating from the Newton Garage. The program will provide operational data to NJ Transit officials to evaluate their performance and determine decisions that could put more than 1,000 other electric buses on state roads.
Under Gov. Phil Murphy’s clean air plan, all new bus purchases will be electric or other zero-emission buses by 2032 and the bus fleet will be 100% zero emission vehicles by 2040.
“NJ Transit is making the right steps to procure our state’s first electric buses,” said Hayley Berliner, Clean Energy Advocate, Environment New Jersey. “They put out an RFP and evaluated the proposals they received on the necessary metrics: range, reliability, experiences in other North American markets, delivery times, and price.”
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The current development of the electric bus industry is an advantage to consider in the purchase according to Berliner. It makes good on a 2-year old commitment by NJ Transit to purchase 8 new electric buses by the fall of 2021, Berliner said.
Technical specifications
NJ Transit has received three proposals that were evaluated on technical and cost factors. They included the operating range between charges, bus reliability, delivery time and the ability to adhere to other technical specifications set by NJ Transit. New Flyer had the highest rating, according to NJ Transit documents.
Environmentalists had criticized what they considered to be NJ Transit’s slow rollout of electric buses compared to other transit agencies.
The purchase also highlights the need for capital funding sources to purchase more electric buses and for NJ Transit to have a dedicated source or operating funds and end a $400 million transfer of capital funds to finance the operating budget, Berliner said.
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“NJ Transit needs to hit the mandates laid out in the 2020 Electric Vehicle Law, which includes 10% of all new bus purchases being electric by 2024, but it won’t be able to do so without the proper funding,” she said.
Sustainable and reliable
Noting there have been some electric bus problems and failures at other transit agencies, NJ Transit CEO Kevin Corbett said that NJ Transit’s goal is to make sure the buses put in service would be sustainable and reliable.
The current generation of New Flyer electric buses has a range between charges that average a maximum of 213 to 251 miles for a 40-foot bus, according to New Flyer’s website. Mileage varies by battery size. The buses also have a system to charge the buses during layovers between runs, extending the mileage electric buses could travel.
New Flyer is no stranger to NJ Transit. A predecessor company later purchased by New Flyer built the buses which are the backbone of NJ Transit’s urban and suburban fleet. New Flyer also built the new articulated buses that NJ Transit deployed last year.
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