FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 22, 2022
MARTA CELEBRATES EARTH DAY BY ANNOUNCING LAUNCH OF ELECTRIC
BUSES
Service Begins on May 1 on Routes 2 & 102 out of North
Avenue Station
ATLANTA - The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid
Transit Authority (MARTA) celebrated Earth Day on Friday, April 22, by
announcing the launch of its first electric buses. MARTA, with support from the
Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and partners New Flyer, Siemens, and the
Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE), will place three electric
buses into service on Routes 2 and 102 beginning Sunday, May 1.
Routes 2 and 102 run out of North Avenue
station, and together provide service to the Ponce de Leon Avenue corridor
between Midtown and the Poncey-Highland neighborhood while connecting to Ponce
City Market and the Beltline eastside trail. At the eastern end of the route,
the 102 turns south to the Edgewood retail district, ending at Edgewood/Candler
Park Station, and the 2 continues east on Ponce de Leon Avenue to East Lake
Station.
“Electric buses are ideal for routes that
travel through dense urban corridors like the 2 and 102 – leaving no noise or
emissions in their wake,” said MARTA Interim General Manager and CEO Collie
Greenwood. “Our goal is to continue adding electric buses to the fleet to help
combat climate change and reduce the public health impacts from air pollution,
especially in our most vulnerable populations. The launch of our first electric
buses is the perfect way to celebrate Earth Day and all of MARTA’s
sustainability efforts.”
“DeKalb is proud that MARTA’s new electric
buses will operate out of the company’s Laredo Bus Operations and Maintenance
Facility, located in DeKalb County. This facility has one of the largest arrays
of solar panels in the state,” said DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond. “We
wholeheartedly support sustainability and we are delighted that the first route
for these buses will be a DeKalb County/City of Atlanta route.”
In 2019, MARTA was awarded a $2.6 million
FTA Low/No Emission Bus Grant to support the purchase of six electric buses and
charging infrastructure. The buses replace 2005 diesel buses and will reduce
MARTA’s fleet emissions by approximately 935 short tons of greenhouse gases,
while also reducing harmful fine particle matter that is linked to a variety of
health issues.
“I have dedicated much of my life as a
public servant to the issue of clean, renewable energy, believing that solar,
natural gas, and electric are the smartest and most sustainable sources of
power and the only way forward for Georgia,” said Georgia Public Service
Commissioner Tim Echols. “I am thrilled that MARTA is leading the way by
putting electric buses on the street and envision a day when diesel buses are a
thing of the past.”
Recently, Sen.
Jon Ossoff, with support from Sen. Raphael Warnock, secured $3.8 million in
Congressionally Directed Spending to support the purchase of an additional six
buses, bringing the total electric fleet to 12.
And MARTA plans to continue transitioning to electric by seeking additional
funding made available as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law such as for
Clayton Southlake Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). That project will use ten electric
buses to provide high-capacity transit service from College Park rail station
to key destinations in Clayton County. Electric buses will also be used on
Atlanta’s first BRT route along Summerhill Road to connect the Beltline,
Peoplestown, Summerhill, Capitol Gateway and South Downtown.
MARTA’s remaining bus fleet is made up
mostly of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses that contribute to the Authority’s
shrinking carbon footprint, reducing emissions the equivalent of keeping over
370,000 cars off the road or powering almost 300,000 homes for one year.
Last year, MARTA was awarded the American
Public Transportation Association (APTA) Gold Level for its Sustainability
Commitment Program, recognizing the Authority’s ongoing commitment to
sustainability initiatives that have a positive impact on the environment and
the communities it serves. Through the incorporation of sustainability efforts
in four categories (Buildings, Environment, Community, and Climate), MARTA
reduced water use by 40 percent, greenhouse gas emissions by 27 percent, energy
use by 14 percent, and waste by 13 percent, over a seven-year period. Learn
more about MARTA’s sustainability efforts here MARTA (itsmarta.com).
For photos and video of the electric buses
click here EPK
- OneDrive (live.com).
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