PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Public Transit Authority has slowly started switching its fleet to electric buses.
Soon, it will also have a place to charge them.
Government and transit officials on Friday gathered to mark the start of construction of the state’s first electric bus in-line charging station. The $6.7 million project was paid for through federal funds and part of the state’s share of the 2018 settlement from the Volkswagen AG diesel fuel emissions scandal.
Located in Cranston at one end of RIPTA’s R-Line, a high-frequency route between Washington Park and Pawtucket, the charging station can power up three electric buses at the same time and also will house an on-site snow melt system and other improvements, according to a release.
The project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2022.
RIPTA is also moving ahead with plans to buy 14 electric buses as part of the second phase of a pilot program that began in 2019.
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Lavin@PBN.com.
