Converting all the public transit buses in California would save reduce carbon emissions in the state by 1 million metric tons by 2040.
"[T]he the California Air Resources Board ordered transit agencies to make their fleets entirely emission-free within two decades," reports Peter Fimrite.
"The new rules prohibit the purchase of any new gas- or diesel-powered public transit buses by 2029 and require all buses to be emission-free by 2040," adds Fimrite. "It is the first policy in the country to require electrification of a state’s entire public transit fleet."
The policy is designed to phase-in new electric buses as older buses exit service. No word in the article about how the state will help local and regional transit agencies pay for the new electric buses to help meet the state mandate, although the state authorized the largest investment in electric charging infrastructure in U.S. history in June 2018.
The article puts the new policy mandate in context of California's larger effort to reduce its carbon emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 as well as the state's battles with the Trump administration over the state's progressive environmental policies.
FULL STORY: California bus agencies ordered to make fleets emission-free
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