On February 10th WFCC members attended a meeting that Representative Steve Owens organized to educate people about the replacement of aging MBTA buses. Jarred Johnson, Executive Director of TransitMatters reviewed the options the MBTA has to improve existing bus service, which does not meet the needs of Boston area riders. TransitMatters advocates for fast, frequent, reliable public transportation in Boston.
Addressing the need to reduce the carbon footprint of public transportation, Jarred focused on two kinds of all-electric buses used successfully in other urban centers: in-motion charging and in-route charging buses. They would use existing overhead power lines to recharge their batteries.
However, the current MBTA plan appears to be to purchase buses that are either electric-diesel hybrids where diesel power will do most of the work of propulsion or electric with diesel heating and cooling. These so-called “electric buses” will replace zero-emission trolley buses currently running, the ones with poles on top to overhead wires.
The MBTA plans to hold a public meeting this spring. WFCC members will attend to advocate buying buses that will lower our public transit system’s carbon emissions and pollutants. When the meeting date is set, it will be published here and WFCC hopes everyone will attend.