This week, the public got a preview of the upcoming fleet of electric buses Delaware Transit Corporation will unveil in the coming years.
The zero-emission bus is battery powered, has a range of about 30 miles and can fully charge in five minutes.
It’s also nearly silent, like a light rail or metro train, getting up to speed with a faint humming sound.
DTC CEO John Sisson says he envisions much of DART’s diesel fleet being replaced – many of which guzzle fuel at 4 miles per gallon.
“I think in the next 10 years you’ll see the fleet really transition over to low or zero emission buses throughout. It’s a constant development – the technology is constantly getting better,” Sisson said.
The buses will mostly stick to downtown Dover routes, he says.
"These electric buses are good for short range driving, but we do also routes that go from Dover to Wilmington and longer distance things. Whether it’ll be compressed natural gas, we’re going to look at hydrogen, we’re going to look at different things as the technology develops.”
State officials received a $2 million federal grant to buy the vehicles.
DART will start running the six new buses in Kent County when they arrive in 2018.
