All-electric buses hit the 14th St. Busway
BY GABE HERMAN
Talk about an electrifying move
for Manhattan!
The MTA rolled out on Sunday
morning its fi rst all-electric articulated
bus, one of a new fl eet that is part of the
agency’s plan to shift away from dieselpowered
buses in the years ahead.
The 15 new electric articulated buses
will serve the M14 Select Bus Service
route. They are the fi rst electric buses
that New York City Transit owns; they
currently lease 10 other electric buses
in use throughout the city.
The MTA’s 2020-2024 Capital Plan
allocated $1.1 billon for 500 new electric
buses, and eight bus depots for
them, which will include 100 articulated
buses and have the fi rst deliveries
start in 2020, according to NYC Transit
President Andy Byford. About 100 of
the buses are scheduled to be delivered
each year after that.
Byford said the electric buses will be
distributed across all fi ve boroughs. By
2029, the MTA plans to only purchase
electric buses for its fl eet.
“We’re very excited to be here today,
because today’s a milestone in our Fast
Forward plan,” Byford said on Dec. 15
at a Midtown bus depot, moments before
the fi rst electric articulated bus left
for 14th Street. The Fast Forward plan
is Byford’s multi-faceted initiative to
modernize the city’s public transit.
Byford said the electric bus plan was
the right thing to do for the environment,
and it provides New Yorkers better
technology for transportation.
There are 16 charging stations at the
NYC Transit President Andy Byford speaking at the bus depot in front of an electric articulated bus.
Midtown bus depot, at West 40th Street
and Eleventh Avenue, noted Craig Cipriano,
acting president of MTA Bus Company
and senior vice president of NYC
Transit’s Dept. of Buses. Charging the
buses takes about three hours and will
be done overnight. Buses can go about
50 to 90 miles on a single charge.
“Today we are taking a huge leap forward,”
Cipriano said. “I want to say to
everyone in New York: Ride the bus and
save the planet.”
Environmental advocates lauded
the new articulated electric buses, and
said that transportation was the biggest
source of greenhouse gas emissions in
New York State and nationwide.
Julie Tighe, president of the New York
League of Conservation Voters, called
it “an important step forward,” and said
emissions can cause health problems,
including asthma.
“Reducing emissions means a healthier
New York for everyone,” said Lauren
Bailey, Director of Climate Change Policy
for Tri-State Transportation Campaign.
She noted that electric buses
were also quieter, and called for electric
buses to be used statewide.
Each electric articulated bus is 60
feet long and costs $1.4 million. Cipriano
said each bus will save about 90 tons
PHOTO BY GABE HERMAN
of carbon emissions and 8,000 gallons
of diesel gas in a year.
Cipriano also took the opportunity
Sunday to tout the success of the M14
busway, providing new data that indicated
buses are traveling at higher
speeds.
Speeds on the corridor between
Third and Ninth Avenues have doubled
since last year, Cipriano said, going
from an average of 2.4 miles per hour
to 4.8 mph (average speeds include time
for stops and traffi c lights). He said top
speeds during the day reached 6.1 mph,
compared to 4.8 mph during a similar
time last year.
Old trash cans out at Washington Square Park
BY GABE HERMAN
When it comes to Washington
Square Park’s garbage, it’s
out with the old and in with
the new.
The NYC Parks Department fi nished
in recent weeks installing 58 new trash
receptacles in the park. They replaced
48 garbage cans that were over a decade
old and in poor condition, according
to the offi ce of State Senator Brad
Hoylman, who secured a $100,000 discretionary
fund grant for the project.
The hefty price tag went toward the
purchase, delivery and installation of
the Scarborough Litter Receptacles.
Hoylman thanked the Washington
Square Park Conservancy, Community
Board 2 and the Greenwich Village
community for their help in the efforts.
“Washington Square Park is a jewel
of our community – a true public space
that’s open and accessible for all New
Yorkers,” said Hoylman. “I’m thrilled
to have secured more than $100,000 in
A look at some of the old trash cans that were replaced.
state funding to install these brand new
trash receptacles in Washington Square
Park and I’m confi dent they will help
make sure the Park is a clean, pleasant
respite in our busy urban landscape.”
COURTESY STATE SEN. BRAD HOYLMAN’S OFFICE
George Vellonakis, Washington
Square Park Administrator and Conservancy
Executive Director, credited
Hoylman with making the upgrade
happen.
“A broken trash can isn’t just ugly, it
causes real problems for the Park,” said
Vellonakis. “The old cans were prone
to overfl ow, leading to piles of trash
on the ground and giving rodents easy
access to a buffet of refuse. These new
cans are stronger, sleeker, and easier
for staff to empty and keep clean.
“It seems like a small change,” he
added, “but it makes a big impact on
the overall feel of the Park – no one
wants to read a book next to a pile of
trash. State Senator Hoylman is in the
Park all the time, so he understood very
quickly what a problem this was and
committed to fi nding a solution.”
Washington Square Park gets 12
million visitors annually, bringing hundreds
of thousands of pounds of garbage,
Hoylman’s offi ce said. The new
trash receptacles, made of heavy-duty
black metal, can hold up to 30 gallons.
The project also provided 10 more receptacles
to be held in reserve for replacing
trash cans that may get damaged
or broken.\
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