Florida Department of Environmental Protection awards Gainesville $1.2M to purchase electric buses
Press release from the City of Gainesville
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The effort to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions will get a boost in Gainesville with a $1.2 million grant from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). The grant, which Gainesville City Commissioners voted to accept at today’s commission meeting, will enable the City’s Regional Transit System (RTS) to retire four diesel buses and replace them with four new battery-electric models. The additional $2.8 million in funding to complete the purchase of the buses will come from the Federal Transit Administration.
The new buses will join four battery-electric buses that were added to the City’s fleet during the past two years. The zero-emission buses each travel an estimated 150-200 miles per charge, connect to existing ChargePoint stations at RTS Headquarters, and can accommodate up to 38 seated passengers.
“By replacing aging diesel buses in the fleet with battery-powered models, we can continue to provide reliable transportation services to our community in a more fuel-efficient manner,” said Gainesville Mayor Harvey Ward.
Following the success of the initial, environmentally-friendly additions to the transit system in 2021, FDEP approached Gainesville transportation leaders to ask if the City would take part in the state’s Electric Transit Bus Grant Program. The program is supported through Florida’s portion of funds from the VW Settlement Agreement, a set of penalties and fines levied against Volkswagen over claims its vehicles violated the U.S. Clean Air Act.
Funding awarded to Gainesville for the new electric buses will be spread out over the next four years. This will provide continued financial support as the City works to replace diesel buses and meet the FDEP program goal of mitigating mobile sources of emissions. As part of this plan, the City guarantees the older diesel models will never return to the road. Instead, the retired buses will go through a specified scrapping process.
The battery-electric buses are powered by an electric drivetrain and onboard batteries. The buses will be built by GILLIG of Livermore, CA, and are expected to arrive in late 2024.
Google it and see what happens to EV buses around the world. Not exactly carbon neutral.
Juts Like the Biomass Plant the disillusioned City Commission so dearly Cherish . Not Carbon Neutral and a big Lie. Little DC and Lets Go Brandon Strikes out again. Please help us State of Florida they cant stop spending on anything.
So scrap and destroy the diesel busses so they can never be used again.
Just like Obama’s “cash for clunkers”program
A huge waste of good reusable vehicles.
These city leaders just won’t learn.
They will give them away to churches or something for free like they did the ACSB buses.
That’s not what they said.
The electricity the buses use come from a zero emissions power plant?
Out of sight out of mind…
What happens when the city is going to have to pay FPL or Duke
For electric to charge those batteries after GRU is sold? Bye-bye RTS or a $10 a fare…Are those utilities zero emissions? another boondoggle.
Get Rid of RTS and let people bike, walk, or Uber.
Hope they have a good fire repression system.
$4,000,000 for 4 EV buses vs $2,000,000 for 4 diesel buses.
Not to mention the battery production process produces more toxic waste and pollution than a diesel bus does during its estimated lifetime. Not to mention the total destruction of ecosystems, flora and fauna at the mining sites for Lithium, Copper, Nickel, etc.
Thats Gainesville math for you.