Electric bus added to Athens Public Transit fleet

Athens Public Transit added an electric vehicle shuttle bus to its fleet this month. The bus is blue, with orange flowers, green creatures and white text that says, “I’m electric,” wrapped around its exterior—a design made by Passion Works artists.

“We definitely wanted it to stand out,” said Sarah Conley-Ballew, Rural Action director of Sustainable Energy Solutions.

The new bus is the only electric vehicle in Athens Public Tranist’s fleet. It is also the only electric shuttle bus operated by a rural transit agency in Ohio, Conley-Ballew said.

For the past three years, Rural Action has led a project to research and promote the transition to electric, emissions-free vehicles in southeast Ohio. The nonprofit purchased the electric shuttle bus for Athens Public Transit using funding from a 2019, $2 million U.S. Department of Energy grant.

The new electric vehicle shuttle bus cost $218,695. The Department of Energy paid more than half that total, contributing $140,535. The City of Athens also received a $40,000 community grant from the Sustainable Ohio Public Energy Council, or SOPEC, and directed the funds to HAPCAP, an action approved by Council at the Sept. 20, 2021 meeting.

“For a good long while now, I’ve seen that there’s an earnest interest in this area, in this region, to make the transition that people are making across the country and across the world to drive electric, to install solar, to really be part of this incredibly important shift away from a fossil fuel economy,” said Conley-Ballew.

Athens Public Transit’s new electric bus is not fueled by gasoline. Instead, its battery system operates using electricity from the power grid. 

“I think one of the most immediate gains is one less gas-powered vehicle on the road, which translates to one less tailpipe pumping emissions into the atmosphere,” said Conley-Ballew.

The new bus uses a Ford E-450 battery operating system that can propel the bus for 105 miles between charges, according to a 2021 Rural Action report presented to the Department of Energy.

Electric vehicles are better for the environment than gasoline-powered cars, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Athens Public Transit’s electric shuttle bus will produce no tailpipe emissions. 

Although the electric bus will use power generated from coal and natural gas to charge, the EPA estimates that even accounting for emissions from power plants, electric vehicles are usually responsible for lower levels of greenhouse gasses than an average new gasoline car.

“One electric bus isn’t going to change the world,” said Carolyn Conley, transportation director at Hocking Athens Perry Community Action. “It’s going to help with energy consumption and everything along those lines, but it’s not going to really change the world. What I really hope it does is bring awareness and maybe a better understanding of electric vehicles and new technology.”

HAPCAP collaborated with Rural Action to acquire the electric vehicle shuttle bus for Athens Public Transit. The two organizations, along with community art studio Passion Works, unveiled the bus publicly on Nov. 9 at an event hosted at the Athens Community Center. 

“This has been an amazing collaborative community project – blending the missions and talents of multiple partners to see this project through,” said Patty Mitchell, executive director of Passion Works Studio, in an email.

Attendees got to ride the new electric bus and view a charging demonstration at the Nov. 9 event. 

However, Conley said the bus will not be in service on an Athens Public Transit route until the end of the month. Rural Action and Athens Public Transit are still researching when the electric bus will need to be charged and where it can charge along routes.

The new electric vehicle shuttle bus will replace one of Athens Public Transit’s existing buses and drive an established, set route.

“There’s no plan to add a new line in the immediate future,” said Conley-Ballew.

Once the bus is operating regularly, HAPCAP will compare data from its traditional gasoline-powered buses to the new electric vehicle bus to determine cost efficiency and reliability.

“I’m very excited to see how this all works out and I am optimistic that this could be really a way to change how we look at public transit and how we look at our communities with more EV coming out,” Conley said.

NOTE: A previous version of this article stated that the SOPEC community grant was for $19,446. The article has been updated to reflect the most accurate information.