Asheville's zero-emission electric buses to debut this spring

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — In 2019, the City of Asheville will deploy five zero-emission electric buses for the city's transit system.

Testing and training are going on now.

By committing to transit vehicles that are powered by electricity, the city says it will reduce fuels costs and dependence on imported energy resources. It will also align with the city's carbon-reduction goals.

The estimated impact is an approximate reduction of 54 tons of emission per year per bus, which adds up to a total of 270 tons of emissions per year once all five ART buses are deployed.

Greenville, S.C.-based Proterra, a leader in the design and manufacture of zero-emission electric buses, delivered the first three electric buses to the City of Asheville in December. Two more are scheduled to arrive in March.

They will go into service in late winter/early spring, following testing and training.

As training is going on for the new electric buses, people may see them following ART buses over the next few weeks. They will not be picking up passengers during this training period.

The City of Asheville is working to promote sustainability and reduction of its carbon footprint as a city and as a community. The city is responsible for a 31 percent reduction in its municipal carbon footprint since 2008.

The goal is for the entire ART fleet to become electric non-emission over time.

Find more information about ART's new electric buses here.