Montgomery County officials launched the County’s first four Ride On electric buses today, with a ceremonial “unplug” ceremony, the buses are scheduled to start running on Friday.
Montgomery received a $1.75 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration Low or No Emission Competitive program to purchase the vehicles and charging stations in 2017. Montgomery’s Department of Transportation Director, Chris Conklin, said that federal funding accounts for around 50% of the necessary funds to purchase the buses and the ultimate goal will be for the Ride On fleet to transition to an all-electric fleet.
From Bethesda Magazine:
County Executive Marc Elrich said the buses are important for furthering the county’s climate change initiatives, which include reducing carbon emissions.
“The buses are cheaper to operate. They need less maintenance. They use less fuel. They have a better life cycle. So we’re moving in the direction we need to go,” he said.
“This county has really high goals for climate change… and they will be absolutely impossible to achieve if we don’t start changing our transportation sector.”
The electric, zero-emission buses are able to run all day on a single charge.