Chicago to Buy Electric Buses

The CTA issued an RFP for electric buses and chargers, Steven Vance reports for Streetsblog Chicago. The program will start with a pilot of 5 buses to run on the Chicago Avenue route and would plan to expand to 20. These buses would be powered with en-route charging, meaning that they could be charged many times throughout the day on the routes they currently run, without disruption.

En-route charging is already in use in Cologne, Germany, "An articulated bus will lay over at a stop near the main train station for up to 10 minutes. While there it lifts up a charging mechanism and, faster than the latest smartphone charging technology, gets a sufficient jolt of electricity to travel to the next charger, or beyond," Vance writes.

This would not be the first purchase of an electric bus by the city. "CTA has operated two electric buses, manufactured by New Flyer, in revenue service since 2014. Catherine Hosinski of the CTA said that electric buses are quieter, and have 'significantly decreased emissions, which improves the quality of air and life for both our riders and general public,'" Vance reports.