Transit
Are electric buses in the future?
Electric buses offer many advantages over traditional fossil fuel buses, but they are more expensive and difficult to run. A new model by General Motors may bring them to the mainstream.
Prototype wireless electric bus. Photo by GM.
The most obvious advantage of electric buses is environmental, but the fact that they don't spew any harmful gases into the atmosphere is hardly the only benefit. Electric buses are also quieter and smoother to ride than fossil fuel buses, resulting in a more comfortable experience for riders and fewer negative effects to the neighborhoods buses travel through.
Traditionally to run an all electric bus a transit agency had to install overhead wires. This can actually be an advantage as well, since it displays a sense of permanence to the transit line, which gives trolley buses some of the same economic development advantages of actual trolleys.
Traditional electric bus. Photo by BeyondDC on Flickr.
But what if it were possible to run an electric bus without the wires? You'd lose that permanence advantage, but the environmental, comfort, and noise advantages would all still apply. And if, after all, wireless streetcars are being developed, why shouldn't a wireless bus be possible too?
It turns out General Motors is working on one, along with a company called Proterra. Their EcoRide BE-35 model bus is fully electric and runs on lithium-ion battery packs that give it a 40-mile range for every 10-minute charge. The 35-foot, low floor bus design is basically comparable to normal city buses otherwise.
The website doesn't include details such as whether the bus can run air conditioning (certainly a requirement in a muggy place like Washington), but if they can make the idea work it has potential to revolutionize urban busing.
Cross-posted at BeyondDC.
 | Dan Malouff is a professional transportation planner for the Arlington County Department of Transportation. He has a degree in Urban Planning from the University of Colorado, and lives a car-free lifestyle in Northwest Washington. His posts are his own opinions and do not represent the views of his employer in any way. He runs the blog BeyondDC and also contributes to the Washington Post Local Opinions blog.   |
Comments
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To clarify, they don't spew harmful gases into the atmosphere locally; however they do out of the power plants' smoke stacks regionally, which is mostly coal in this area.
by RJ on Jun 17, 2011 3:37 pm • link • report
by brad on Jun 17, 2011 3:37 pm • link • report
Not that this is a major problem for DC, but just another advantage of the electric bus.
by Tim on Jun 17, 2011 4:13 pm • link • report
On any given day, flexibility is certainly valuable, for the reason you indicate.
But people make more significant choices about where to live (or where to situate a new restaurant, shop, or office building) based on the expectation of continued transportation availability. A bus, because it's inherently impermanent, can be changed to another street or discontinued altogether. A service with tracks (or wires), however, while its frequency could be scaled back, is far less likely to be moved or cancelled outright. Those wires/tracks also serve as a reminder, even when the vehicle isn't there, that the bus/streetcar will come, discouraging double-parkers and the like.
by Joey on Jun 17, 2011 5:17 pm • link • report
by spookiness on Jun 17, 2011 6:07 pm • link • report
by poncho on Jun 17, 2011 6:37 pm • link • report
I learned that first hand one snowy morning. After waiting over an hour in the cold for my Ride-on bus I discerned that the bus drivers were making an impromptu route adjustment to bypass the hill I lived on!
by JeffB on Jun 17, 2011 7:04 pm • link • report
by tom veil on Jun 17, 2011 7:29 pm • link • report
Electric buses are great. Permanance comes from having dedicated lanes and stops. Bogota does it great. If anything as development happens being able to change routes should be a plus. But even Metro buses very seldom change routes.
Burning coal to make electricity does pollute. But I've heard it only does so 1/3 as much in the end as using internal combustion. And I don't think it's ozone, which is DC's killer.
by Tom Coumaris on Jun 17, 2011 9:34 pm • link • report
Tom Coumaris is right. Power plants are wayyyy more efficient than combustion engines. This is not hard to understand and verify. Furthermore, there are alternatives for coal. Wind for instance. And solar.
I wonder if it would be efficient to slap solar panels op top of electric buses.
by Jasper on Jun 19, 2011 11:07 am • link • report
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