LTD Board Approves Electric Bus Contract
Media Contact: Pat Walsh
Email: Pat.Walsh@LTD.org
Phone: 541-513-1236
The Lane Transit District Board of Directors voted unanimously to approve the purchase of 11 Xcelsior CHARGE™ battery-electric 40-foot heavy-duty transit buses, including seven ABB depot chargers to support electric bus infrastructure development from New Flyer of America Inc. (“New Flyer”), a subsidiary of NFI Group Inc. (“NFI”), one of the world’s leading independent global bus manufacturers.
“The 11 battery-electric buses from New Flyer will replace aging diesel buses in the LTD fleet,” said Carl Yeh, president of the LTD Board of Directors. “This is an opportunity for LTD to reduce the carbon emissions its fleet emits into the environment and support the communities’ commitment to combat global warming.”
The 11 battery-electric buses are being paid for with money from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Low or No-Emission fund, and LTD general funds. Cost of the 11 battery-electric bus order is $10,624,723.89. LTD expects the first of the 11 New Flyer battery-electric buses to begin arriving in November 2020 with the order completely filled by summer 2021.
“It is clear that Lane Transit District is a visionary in the evolution to sustainable mobility operations and community connectedness,” said Chris Stoddart, President, New Flyer. “We commend the LTD team for its steadfast focus on making zero-emission goals a reality, and look forward to supporting them in reducing carbon emissions while providing cleaner, more efficient, and connected mobility to Lane County residents.”
LTD’s Board of Directors is developing ambitious, yet, realistic emission reduction goals for its fleet based on a study of the District’s carbon foot print that concluded the two greatest opportunities to reduce community greenhouse gas emissions are to focus on increasing ridership and to reduce emissions from its fleet vehicles. LTD’s partnership with New Flyer and its commitment to investing in electric vehicles is an important part of its carbon reduction strategy.
LTD’s zero-emission bus purchase helps the District to continue to fulfill its mission to provide clean, reliable, convenient, transportation options for the Eugene-Springfield, Oregon, metro area, and surrounding communities.
“Battery-electric buses are just one more way LTD is working to identify more sustainable ways to provide transit service to the community,” said Aurora Jackson, LTD’s general manager. “These new buses and other steps LTD makes every day support our community’s and the District’s carbon reduction strategy for a healthy environment today and in the future.”
LTD received certification at the silver level for the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) sustainability commitment in 2014. Since then, LTD has hired a Sustainability Program Manager and conducted a carbon footprint analysis of its operations to measure the impacts and benefits of public transit on climate change. This study found the two greatest opportunities to reduce community greenhouse gas emissions are to focus on increasing ridership and to reduce emissions from its fleet vehicles.
###
About New Flyer
New Flyer is North America's heavy-duty transit bus leader and offers the most advanced product line under the Xcelsior® and Xcelsior CHARGE™ brands. It also offers infrastructure development through New Flyer Infrastructure Solutions™, a service dedicated to providing safe, sustainable, and reliable charging and mobility solutions. New Flyer actively supports over 41,000 heavy-duty transit buses (New Flyer, NABI, and Orion) currently in service, of which 7,300 are powered by electric motors and battery propulsion and 1,600 are zero-emission. Further information is available at www.NewFlyer.com.