The Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) has $2.5 million to spend on new hybrid electric buses in 2013 courtesy of a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Transportation Clean Fuels Program.
“We are extremely grateful for this award, which will allow us to stick with a planned purchase program for buses. New vehicles are the centerpiece of our efforts to attract new customers to our system,” said CDTA CEO Carm Basile in a statement.
U.S. Sens. Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand worked to secure the grant, which they announced on Monday, Nov. 14.
“The Capital Region is growing through green jobs and new technologies and our public transit system must be ready to handle the load,” said Schumer.
The Clean Fuels Program was developed to “assist non-attainment or maintenance areas in achieving or maintaining the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone and carbon monoxide.”
The CDTA has a fleet of 235 vehicles on the road covering the Capital District and about 20 percent of those are hybrid electric vehicles, said Margo Janack, CDTA spokesperson. The CDTA has a Fleet Replacement Program in place that was developed a few years ago to help ensure vehicles were regularly replaced when they reached their life span, which is about 12 years or every 500,000 miles, whichever comes first.
“This will help us continue the replacement of the buses,” said Janack. “About one twelfth of our fleet will be purchased.”
Regular replacement of vehicles once they’re past their prime is important for safety and customer satisfaction.
“We want to make sure our buses on the road are safe and comfortable for the Capital Region,” said Janack. “After a while if you go beyond the 12 year span they break down all the time, which becomes more costly to even fix than it would be to get new buses in.”
The Clean Fuels Program grant was competitive and Janack said the CDTA was “pleased” to have secured it, especially given tight budgets.
Implementing green initiatives and promoting sustainability across its services has become an important cornerstone of CDTA’s mission.
“We’ve made it a point to secure hybrid diesel electric buses in our fleet because they’re cleaner and quieter and have 90 percent less emissions,” said Janack.
Janack said the CDTA keeps the environment in mind when making changes beyond actual buses.
“That extends to our solar powered shelters and istop signs we have on the BusPlus route,” said Janack, adding the BusPlus route is an environmentally friendly project in itself because it makes limited stops. “We also have plans to install a solar panel roof on one of our facilities so we always look to head in that direction to help our environment.”
Even without the sustainability measures, CDTA’s growing ridership (about 14.5 million riders annually) was already doing its part for the environment.
“Public transportation itself helps reduce the carbon footprint in the region,” said Janack. “There are 42 seats on a bus so that’s 42 cars taken off the road.”
CDTA had more announcements on Tuesday, Nov. 15, introducing new amenities on the BusPlus service to “expedite travel time, improve customer communications and ease congestion on Route 5.”
Besides customer convenience services like complimentary WiFi, real time passenger information (RTPI) at select stations that will provide riders with “up-to-the-minute arrival information” using GPS satellites to determine bus location. Riders can then access that information through a smartphone app, email and text message alerts. There’s also a new measure to prevent road clogging.
Queue jumper and traffic signal priority systems allow buses to essentially “jump the line” of waiting cars at congested intersections using “bus only” lanes. The queue jumpers have been installed along Route 5 at Wolf Road Westbound, New Karner Road westbound and Nott Terrace eastbound.
“Route 5 is the Capital Region’s busiest travel corridor and BusPlus is helping ensure it remains a vital connector,” said Town of Colonie Supervisor Paula Mahan in a statement.
CDTA will also use $5.5 million in federal funds it was awarded in October to install 22 real time arrival signs, new shelters, security cameras and 911 blue light phones along Route 5 in 2012.
For more information about CDTA services visit www.cdta.org.
