Lane Transit District adopted a plan to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 75% in June 2020. In order to meet this goal, LTD is switching from diesel busses to mostly electric ones.
According to LTD fleet management director Mike Imlach, LTD’s original goal was to have 25 electric busses by 2023. Currently, LTD has 11 fully electric busses in service, with 19 more coming by 2023. This means LTD is “above and beyond” where it wanted to be, Imlalch said.
By 2035, LTD hopes to get rid of all diesel-fueled busses, Imlach said, but that doesn’t mean all its busses will be electric.
One of the new plan’s goals is to actively research new fuels and technologies for public transportation. Imlach said this allows LTD to explore energy options beyond electric — such as hydrogen fuel cells.
“It is really an ambitious goal to get us away from greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, public transportation is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. It accounts for 29% of the country’s emissions and 14% globally, the EPA said.
The EPA also found that diesel, which fuels most busses, can cause cancer and other respiratory illnesses.
To showcase its new busses, LTD held an event with Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg on July 14. The stop was part of Buttigieg and DeFazio's road trip to highlight the benefits of infrastructure investments. The trip specifically focused on DeFazio’s INVEST in America Act, which will provide billions of dollars of federal funding for infrastructure updates.
Buttigieg said the busses were “clean” and had everything he expected from a bus.
While the electric busses may look, feel and drive like diesel ones, Imlach said, the batteries can only go so far before they run out of juice. To get around this, Imlach said LTD’s team came up with creative solutions.
One of those is fast-charging stations, where the bus’ battery will get “topped off,” he said. While the station doesn’t fully recharge the battery, Imlach said it provides an adequate boost to extend the range and keep the bus running for the rest of the day.
OSPIRG, a non-profit student-led organization that fights for a greener future, said it is pleased with LTD’s efforts.
Eliza Garcia, UO student and OSPIRG’s vice chair, said the organization ran a campaign last year, which pushed for LTD to move to all-electric busses. Garcia said public transportation is an important area to target since so many people use it. Roughly 37,000 people use LTD every week, according to its website.
“Public transportation is really big in Eugene,” Garcia said. She said it is important for OSPIRG to pressure Eugene to move toward “a cleaner energy and electricity future.”
Only LTD has to implement changes for everyone to benefit, Garcia said.
However, OSPIRG decided to stop putting pressure on LTD once the pandemic hit, she said. LTD was “doing a lot for the community” by providing free bus fares while having reduced hours, Garcia said, and pressuring LTD when it was focusing on serving the community didn’t feel right.
Still, she said, “It is really nice to see that they are introducing electric buses, and we're happy that it is moving that way.”
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July 28, 2021 at 08:00PM
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