Transportation in the U.S. is undeniably car-driven. In many American cities, mass transit opportunities are far behind what’s available in other parts of the world. But that doesn’t mean public transit’s reach is negligible. According to the American Public Transit Association, Americans took nearly 10 billion trips via public transportation in . It’s an $80 billion industry that accounts for around 450,000 jobs.
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With that much activity, public transit makes a significant contribution to the total environmental and economic impact of the transportation sector in the U.S. And that impact will largely be determined by how much we invest in making public transportation sustainable. Electric public transportation is essential to creating cleaner, greener cities. Let’s look at why — and how to get there.
To get a clear picture of the potential benefits of electric public transportation, we first have to consider the costs and negative effects of our current reality.
From an environmental perspective, urban transportation — public and private combined — leaves much to be desired. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), transportation accounted for 27% of the United States’ greenhouse gas emissions in . The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) notes that, globally, transportation accounts for 64% of oil consumption, 27% of energy use and 23% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions.
These numbers aren’t merely abstract realities, either. According to the World Bank, urban transportation is responsible for 12% to 70% of air pollution, and an estimated 7 million people die from urban air pollution each year. That doesn’t even factor in the other costs. Due to its carbon footprint, accidents, congestion and noise, transportation amounts to up to 15% of the lost gross domestic product in Beijing, for instance.
It’s not the only solution to these problems, but going green in the public transportation sector would have a significant positive impact. On the surface, the immediate benefit of electric public transportation is that it lowers long-term transit costs for cities. In terms of fuel and maintenance, electric vehicles save money in the long run, despite the upfront costs involved. One estimate projects that a $4 trillion investment in electric public buses and trains would yield $1 trillion annually by .
However, electric transportation benefits go much further than that. An investment in clean public transportation could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 0.71 gigatonnes in the next 10 years. And the World Bank reports that green transportation will create around 53 million jobs in emerging markets around the globe by .
These aren’t just pipe dreams. Many cities and countries are putting their resources into electric public transportation. The IISD highlights Indonesian city Jakarta’s efforts to electrify and integrate its public transportation in the longest rapid bus transit line in the world — a feat that won it the Sustainable Transport Award. And China’s 400,000 electric buses make up around 99% of the global total. The U.S. has some catching up to do, but cities around the nation have announced plans to fully electrify their bus fleets over the coming decades.
For many cities, the road toward electric public transportation is a long one. Getting there involves numerous important considerations. Paramount among these is, of course, the cost. One electric transit bus costs around $750,000, compared to $500,000 for a standard diesel transit bus. And that doesn’t include the cost of installing the necessary charging infrastructure to support electrification. These investments will pay off in the long run, but still represent a hefty initial cost.
This investment requires better public funding — and the governance to support the effort and planning. User fares won’t be enough to cover the costs, and the programs will need sustained initiatives on the municipal level to succeed.
Those initiatives must focus heavily on effective long-term planning. Electric vehicles require a drastically different infrastructure than their traditional, gas-fueled counterparts. Range limitations mean that charging must be available at proper intervals around the route, and fleet needs must be planned with the EV route in mind. Not only that, but employees in the public transportation sector will need the proper training support to learn how to operate and maintain these new vehicle fleets.
With proper planning, the route and placement of electric bus stations could transform the urban landscape. Replacing the noise and pollution so prevalent at existing transportation hubs with clean, quiet access to public transportation may change where people want to live and make neighborhoods that were once avoided more desirable.
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Transitioning to electric public transportation is not a simple, overnight endeavor. It takes significant effort and planning, not to mention ample upfront investment. Doing it will require creativity and forethought, along with strong leadership to get the public on board.
You might be surprised to learn that the concept of an electric car was first brought to life in the 19th century, hundreds of years before Tesla was even founded! In fact, the first attempt at producing a small-scale electric car took place as early as the s. Over the next century and a half, electric vehicles—including the electric bus—went through peaks and valleys in popularity, until manufacturers began to approach them more seriously again in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Today, electric buses are used more widely than ever before, though a large majority of U.S. cities have yet to fully implement them into their public transportation systems. To understand the current and future role of the electric bus, let’s take a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of their widespread use!
Because they don’t run on gas, electric buses don’t produce the harmful emissions that standard vehicles breathe into the air. This helps decrease greenhouse gas build up that causes detrimental issues like global warming and air pollution, making our environment cleaner and healthier. Additionally, because they have no exhaust and vibrate less, they even reduce noise pollution.
Electricity is much less expensive than gasoline, as anyone who keeps track of their gas budget will know. Fueling a bus with electricity is only about a third of the cost of fueling it with gas, which saves a considerable amount of money over time. Electric buses also have fewer regular maintenance costs—because they don’t run on fuel, there’s no need for oil changes. Plus, the smoother ride is easier on the brakes, helping them to last longer.
With electric buses, there’s no need for school or city districts to source fuel to power their fleets. They can conveniently recharge their vehicles by simply connecting to the local power grid. Or, companies can even set up solar panels to generate their own power source for even greater long-term savings.
Electric vehicles are expensive to make, and therefore expensive to buy. Electric cars run about $20,000-30,000 more than a regular vehicle, and an electric bus can cost two to three times as much as a standard. Until our technology advances further and becomes cheaper to produce, anyone looking for an electric bus is looking at a pretty hefty down payment—especially for an entire fleet.
Additionally, cities that use electric buses need to install charging stations and/or en route charging stops to power their vehicles. These stations can cost upwards of $50k, on top of the added utility costs of the electricity they’ll need.
Even the most recent electric bus models only get up to 225 miles per charge, depending on the weather and local terrain. This means they need to recharge about once a day—for up to several hours depending on how much battery they’ve used—which can really impair the efficiency of a public transportation system.
As the public transportation and bus industries evolve with new technology and innovation, one thing will remain the same—you can count on Las Vegas Bus Sales for the latest information and widest variety of new and used buses available! We’re constantly updating our inventory with the newest models of shuttle buses, school buses, coach buses and more, to meet the modern needs of our clients.
Contact our team today to learn more about the buses we carry and schedule a visit to our dealership to see them for yourself!
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