They’ll have a solid blue color with no TriMet logo, but rest assured that our team is behind the wheel. The buses will be filled with giant barrels of water to simulate the weight of riders, so that we can see how they’ll perform in real-world conditions with people on board. In other words, they won’t be picking up riders. These two buses are for demonstration and testing only. That should give the 40-foot bus enough power to travel more than 180 miles and the 60-foot bus to cover more than 120 miles. These buses will also rely on plug-in chargers and can reach a full charge in about three to four hours. One is a 60-foot long articulated bus, the other is 40-feet, like most of the buses in our diesel fleet. We’ve borrowed a couple of long-range buses from New Flyer – the manufacturer of our first five electric buses – for testing. A fully electric articulated “bendy” bus putting in the paces along Line 72-Killingsworth/82nd Ave. New Flyer Long-Range Bus: Another intriguing option A grant from the Federal Transit Administration’s Low or No Emission Program covered part of the cost, just as it did with our original fleet of New Flyer electric buses. The 5 GILLIG electric buses cost just over $6 million. Then, after additional testing and training, riders like you will be able to hop on board. It’s one of the longest bus lines in our system, with a long, steep West Hills climb and a 20-hour service day.Īfter we’ve tested the first bus for at least 60 days, we’ll start getting the remaining four. We’re trying these buses out on Line 20-Burnside/Stark, a 26.5 mile route stretching from Beaverton to Gresham. The GILLIG buses will initially charge overnight at our Merlo garage in Beaverton, and they’ll be able to travel more than 150 miles before needing to recharge. They’re produced by GILLIG – the same manufacturer that made the majority of our diesel bus fleet. Now arriving…long-range electric buses! They’re a different kind of electric bus, and we received our first of five this month. GILLIG Long-Range : Kicking the tires on other technologies
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