Three new electric buses will take Gainesville streets by 2019.
The Regional Transit System was awarded $3 million by the Federal Transit Administration grant for improvements including an electric bus and charging station. The funding was announced Aug. 24.
Other additions include new PA announcements, a system to allow paying from mobile phones, a security camera upgrade, 15 automated passenger counters and bus radio equipment, RTS spokesperson Chip Skinner said.
WiFi will also be added to a handful of buses as a pilot project, Skinner said.
Last year, RTS was awarded a grant of $1 million to purchase two other electric buses and a charging station. Another allocation of $2 million was also awarded this year.
These donations allow for RTS to have a total of $5 million in donations to have three electric buses and two charging stations. The buses haven’t been purchased by the city yet, Skinner said.
The electric buses are called “Low-No” vehicles due to the low amount, or lack of, emission gases. Skinner said these buses are important to have in the community because they’ll decrease the greenhouse gases in the environment.
“Public transportation really benefits the environment because we have less smog and smog precursors coming out of the vehicles,” Skinner said.
Skinner hopes the public transportation system will continue to receive funding over the next 10 years to improve the environment and RTS itself.
Gainesville is one of three bus systems in Florida to receive this grant, alongside Broward County and the Pinellas-Suncoast Transit Authority.
Daniel Vinkus, an 18-year-old UF mechanical engineering freshman, said he’s pleased with RTS becoming more environmentally conscious.
Vinkus said he uses the bus at least twice a day, so as long as the system remains running during the transition, he doesn’t mind the “Low-No” buses being put to use.
“As a student, I don’t pay the bus fare,” he said, “so as long as that doesn’t change I’m fine with it.”
Follow Dana Cassidy on Twitter @danacassidy_ and contact her at dcassidy@alligator.org.
