Park City Transit and Proterra recently announced that Park City Transit will operate a zero-emission Proterra Catalyst shuttle during the 33rd edition of the Sundance Film Festival, Thurs., Jan. 19-Sun., Jan. 29, 2017.
"We are excited to complement Sundance's New Climate programming with Park City's new zero-emission battery-electric bus," said Park City Mayor Jack Thomas. "It's our hope that this preview of our new Proterra fleet to visitors from around the world will inspire others to consider clean, quiet electric transit in their communities."
With the goal of becoming completely carbon-neutral by 2032, Park City is America's first ever mountain resort community to embrace the economic and environmental benefits of battery-electric buses. Park City Transit has purchased six Proterra Catalyst buses to establish America's first electric bus rapid transit route (BRT) in a resort community, along State Road 224. The full fleet of buses will be deployed June 2017.
"The electric buses will make a contribution to the reduction in local tailpipe emissions and will assist with the County's climate action goals," said Summit County Council Member Glenn Wright.
In conjunction with the launch of the free Sundance battery-electric shuttle, Park City Transit and The Center for Sustainable Electrified Transportation (SELECT) at Utah State University, with support from Proterra, are hosting an electrified transportation roundtable with private and public sector leaders from throughout Utah. The gathering will offer the opportunity for state and local officials along with the business community to exchange ideas on technologies and opportunities for electric transportation throughout Utah. In addition, Rocky Mountain Power will offer a sneak peak of its U.S. Department of Energy funded Western Smart Plug-in Electric Vehicle Community Partnership (WestSmart EV), a program to develop a large-scale sustainable PEV charging infrastructure network and related adoption programs. The event will be held at 12:30 p.m., Tues., Jan. 17, at the Park City Transit Center Building, 1053 Iron Horse Drive.
"Air quality and climate change are some of the biggest threats now confronting mountain resort communities," said Ryan Popple, CEO, Proterra. "Sustainability initiatives play a critical role in keeping our ski and snowboard destinations pristine. We applaud Park City for their forward-thinking leadership in adopting transportation policies that include zero-emission transit vehicles and hope that other mountain resorts will be inspired by their initiative."
