Providence, RI – Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, RIPTA, performed their inaugural run of the electric buses today.
Earlier in the year, RIPTA announced that they would be leasing three electric buses from Proterra using $1.44 million dollars in federal settlement money. These buses would be the Proterra Catalyst BE40 model and the first electric buses in RIPTA’s fleet. RIPTA will use this lease period to evaluate the future of electric buses.
The state of Rhode Island boasts that they’re one of the first states to fully invest in zero-emissions buses. State-operated public transit agencies like DART of Delaware, New Jersey Transit, and Maryland MTA have yet to invest in electric bus technology, however, more local agencies like New York City MTA have also invested in battery-electric buses.
The lease on the RIPTA Proterra Catalyst BE40s is on a five-year basis, and by then RIPTA will announce whether or not they will go forward with fully investing in the technology.
