The MTA is hoping to order 470 electric buses with an option to increase the number to 950, according to solicitation documents released by the agency.
The purchase is part of the current capital plan, which allocates $1.1 billion for electric buses and would help the MTA stay on track to run a fully electric bus fleet by 2040.
If the transition to electric buses is completed, it will make the MTA’s electric bus fleet the largest in North America, with 5,800 electric buses.
“This is obviously the direction that the city and the world needs to be moving in,” Rachel Weinberger, Director, Research Strategy & Peter W. Herman Chair for Transportation at the Regional Plan Association, said.
Weinberger said if the city and MTA work together to make the streets more hospitable for buses, it could be a much more efficient way to move people around — and the bus could shed its "loser cruiser" reputation. In 2019, the MTA banned vehicles on parts of 14th street. Afterward, bus ridership increased and trip speeds increased as well.
“We see some evidence here already in the 14th Street bus corridor, which I think is working very effectively,” she said. “It really [can be] a superior mode of transport.”
On Earth Day last year, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the MTA announced that this year the agency would deploy 60 electric buses and install charging technology at five bus depots around the city.
The MTA notes the new battery powered buses will have on-board batteries and that all bus depots will be able to charge them.
This comes as the bus is having a moment.
A panel of experts gathered by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey recently found the fastest and cheapest way to get people to and from LaGuardia airport is the bus.
A new report calls for building a dedicated busway and making traffic improvements, like signal priority, so buses aren’t stuck at red lights. The Port Authority Board is now considering whether to implement it.
The MTA hopes to award a contract for the new electric buses by the end of the year.
The agency is also seeking information about “battery trailer systems,” technology that would be portable enough to power up buses on the street. In a public request document, the agency noted it’s looking for something that can provide backup power and store solar energy in case a depot’s power goes down.
