Chicago CTA to double electric bus fleet
Chicago-based public transport operator Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) announced plans to nearly double the size of its all-electric bus fleet with the purchase of 22 new electric buses.
The Chicago Transit Board authorized the exercising of a contract option for the purchase of additional standard, 40-foot electric buses, valued at $26.2 million. The original contract was awarded to Proterra in 2018 following a competitive procurement process and included a base order of 23 standard electric buses, plus an option to purchase up to 25 additional electric buses.
CTA has already received the original bus order and the agency plans to use a mix of funds from a federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grant and funds from RTA to expand the size of its electric bus fleet to 47 vehicles. Buses from this option order would begin arriving in early 2025. The transport operator aims to be running an “all-electric fleet by 2040”.
“Expanding our electric bus fleet will allow us to extend the benefits of all-electric buses to even more vulnerable communities on the South and West sides of Chicago, which are adversely impacted by higher rates of harmful pollutants,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. “We look forward to rolling out these new vehicles in the near future, which will not only help reduce harmful emissions in communities, but also provide our riders with a more reliable and quieter transit experience.”
Electric buses is not the only area where the city of Chicago has been electrifying, as the Chicago Electric initiative launched in May also applies to all other kinds of vehicles in the municipal fleet. As early as 2019, the Chicago police department had ordered a fleet of 200 hybrid Ford Interceptors.
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