With so many bus riders in West Seattle, this might be of interest if you didn’t catch it in regional coverage: Metro has up to 120 more battery-electric buses on the way. King County announced the purchase plan this past week. Highlights from the full announcement:
The initial agreement is to buy 40 battery-electric buses, to be delivered in 2021, and to order 80 more, from New Flyer of America, Inc. Those first 40 buses will be 60-foot articulated buses that cost $1.3 million each. The planned order after that, for delivery in 2022, will be for 20 more 60-foot articulated buses and 60 40-foot buses costing $925,000 each. At least $20 million of the cost will be covered by grant funding.
These buses, Metro says, meet the specifications King County laid out three years ago – able to travel about 140 miles on one charge. (The 11 battery-electric buses that Metro has now can only go 23 miles before they need a 10-minute charge.) The announcement also notes that Metro “initially pursued a different manufacturer for the purchase of 73 buses in 2017, however, that manufacturer does not currently have a 60-foot-long option.” If you’re wondering about charging capability, Metro is starting with a “temporary interim bus base” due to be complete this fall, with a charging system for 100 buses to be phased in starting next year; a permanent South Annex Base (in Tukwila) is in the works too. As for which routss will get those first new battery-electric buses next year – we asked; Metro says it hasn’t decided.
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