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Long Beach Transit proposes 10 new electric buses

The Long Beach Transit plans to put electric buses in the community by the year 2016 — the cost is roughly $1 million including the charge stations — an LBT official said.

LBT received a grant from the Federal Transit Administration to purchase 10 electric buses, and additional funding from the Port of Long Beach, LBT’s public information officer, Kevin Lee.

The battery-powered electric buses would replace diesel-powered buses, according to Lee; he said he wants to make an impact on the Long Beach community.

“[Electric buses are] a game changer,” Lee said. “We are really excited about possibly having battery-electric buses.”

Lee said on Tuesday that LBT released a proposal to manufacturing companies.

Responses from the manufacturing companies regarding whether LBT meets the requirements for the electric buses are due back by Nov. 26. Lee said if everything goes as planned, a contract will be written and finalized 180 days from the proposal’s due date.

The new buses would be equipped to carry 40 to 50 people, and would be free to the public, Lee said. He said he is aware that the process of building the buses will take some time.

One obstacle LBT faces is an effort to reduce carbon emissions and the prohibitive cost of battery-powered engines, which is nearly three times as much as a single standard diesel bus, according to an article in the Dominion Post.

Lee said the new technology’s process of production would take longer than the compressed natural gas buses.

“We intend to operate all or the majority of the battery-electric buses along the passport route in downtown Long Beach,” Lee said.

The passport route is a route through which the majority of the buses operate in downtown Long Beach. According to the Press Telegram, the buses would make stops at the Queen Mary, the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center; they would also drive through Pine Street.

Twenty-one-year-old Cal State Long Beach kinesiology major Dylan Robinson said he wouldn’t mind the electric buses.

“I think battery-powered buses are good,” Robinson said. “As long it doesn’t affect the reliability of the bus schedule, I think [battery-powered buses] would be fine.”

LBT serves 28.2 million customers in Long Beach, Lakewood, Signal Hill and parts of surrounding areas, according to the Press Telegram.

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