Officials come to Pomona for electric bus unveiling
Federal and local elected officials gathered at the Foothill Transit Operations Facility Friday (Sept 3) morning for a ceremonial unveiling of one of three cutting-edge, electric buses being added to the transportation agency's fleet.
The ceremony was attended by various elected officials including Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Santa Fe Springs, Rep. David Drier, R-San Dimas and Rep. John Mica, R-Florida, who is the ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Also present was Therese W. McMillan, deputy administrator of the Federal Transit Administration.
Foothill Transit is the first transit agency to take delivery of the first of the all-electric EcoRide BE-35 buses built by Golden, Colo.-based Proterra, according to the manufacturer's web site.
The buses are the first of their their kind.
Electric buses are nothing new but what makes these vehicles different is that they are charged in 10 minutes instead of taking hours, said Felicia Friesema, spokeswoman for Foothill Transit.
The transportation agency purchased the buses, which it calls Ecoliners, at $1.2 million each with the help of $6.5 million in federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funding, she said.
The electric buses are more expensive than buses fueled with compressed natural gas or other fossil fuels, Friesema said.
A conventional bus cost about $600,000.
However, the electric buses are expected to save money in the long run because they will be in service longer than conventional buses since they have fewer moving parts and are less expensive to fuel, Friesema said.
The new buses are expected to go into service Wednesday on line 291 which serves Pomona and La Verne.
This bus line was selected because the line is a busy one, attracting 700,000 passengers annually, Friesema said.
"We need to put (the bus) through its paces," she said.
Riders shouldn't notice anything different when they use the 30-foot vehicle except for one thing.
"It's quiet and were hoping that's the only thing they're going to notice," Friesema said.
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