Providence, RI – Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, RIPTA, performed their inaugural run of the electric buses today.

RIPTA Proterra Buses in Garage
RIPTA Proterra Buses in Garage, from Providence Journal

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.

About the author: Dash Verified icon 1

I have been with Virtual Transit Center since it's conception as the "Dash Forums" back in 2008. Since then, I have been writing and doing YouTube side by side, focusing both on Transportation and Gaming. Most of my knowledge comes from SEPTA as I lived in Philadelphia for most of my life. As of 2021, I am on YouTube as DashTransit, Dash5155, and TheDashOfficial.

As for the name DashTransit itself, it actually stems from my YouTube channel.

DashTransit was originally called "njt5329" and the channel was just clips of buses. Mostly SEPTA and NJT. A Fujifilm Finepix was used in this era.

Starting in July 2011, the Canon SX130IS camera became the camera of the channel, bringing HD documentary-style videos much like my buddy (trainman1971) did for DVD for many years past. This is when the channel became known as "Transit Action Series"

In May 2012, the original Canon SX130IS retired, and then all videos were recorded off a mobile phone until eventually uploaded proved too difficult due to hardships IRL

Starting in 2017, I used a Canon SX200IS from Bastranz to reboot the channel that otherwise was dead for a whole year prior.

Between April 19th, 2019, and January 21st, 2021, all videos were recorded by a Canon SX710 HS camera. The channel was renamed DashTransit 4/19/19.

Similar Posts

Give your feedback on this post!

Get Connected!
Come join Virtual Transportation Center now to become part of a bigger transportation fandom.

Comments

No comments yet