The MTA is deploying 10 new electric buses for a three-year test drive on city streets, officials announced Monday.
The 10 buses from two manufacturers — Proterra in Burlingame, Calif., and New Flyer of America in St. Cloud, Minn. — will feature on board WiFi and USB ports.
The B32 route along the Brooklyn and Queens waterfront and the crosstown M42 and M50 routes will get the electric buses.
“As we overhaul and reimagine the MTA, we have an opportunity to not only modernize our bus fleet but to also reduce emissions that impact the environment and public health,” Gov. Cuomo said in a statement.
If the electric buses can handle city streets, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority can get 60 more. Meanwhile, Proterra will be installing six charging stations at the Grand Ave. bus depot. There will also be a mid-route charging station at the Williamsburg Bridge Plaza.
The MTA also has 110 new natural gas buses on order that’ll run in the Bronx and Brooklyn through early 2019, replacing some of the oldest buses in the fleet.
Transit and community advocates, however, have not been breathing easier because the MTA ordered 10 new electric buses.
The greener buses were leased this year along with the purchase of 618 diesel-belching buses and 10 “hybrid” models — at a cost of more than $332 million.
The MTA also plans to use 200 diesel buses to make up for loss of L train service in 2019, when the line’s Canarsie tunnel is fully closed for 15 months to repair damage during Hurricane Sandy.
Transit officials have defended the slow pace of upgrading its bus fleet.
Ronnie Hakim, the MTA’s managing director, told city council members at a meeting last month on the L train shutdown that the agency wants to avoid a mistake with untested vehicles.
“These are expensive investments we’re making,” she said at the time.
MTA spokesman Jon Weinstein wrote on Twitter that other cities had problems with electric buses in extreme heat and cold.
“We are totally committed to this. But let’s spend our money wisely,” Weinstein wrote on Twitter. “Let’s make sure they work; seems prudent, right?”
