Allegheny County Adds 6 More Xcelsior CHARGE Electric Buses

In Pittsburgh, the Port Authority of Allegheny County (PAAC) just chose to add six more of New Flyer’s Xcelsior CHARGE electric buses to its fleet. These new buses are 40 feet long and are zero-emissions heavy-duty transit buses that will help the community to lower its collective carbon footprint.

This purchase was supported by the Federal Transit Administration’s Low or No Emission Grant program, and these buses will replace end-of-life diesel buses. PAAC ordered its first two battery-electric buses from New Flyer in 2019. That contract included the option to buy eight more buses over the next five years. Six down, two to go.

In 2019, PAAC began its zero-emissions transit initiative to help improve air quality. The second-largest public transit agency in Pennsylvania, which provides more than 62 million annual passenger trips in Allegheny County, indicates that it wants to enhance the quality of life for its community while protecting the environment. Of course, these electric buses will also save the agency money on operational costs. Christ Stoddart, New Flyer and MCI’s president, shared his thoughts in a statement on New Flyer’s blog.

“With its second order of electric buses, PAAC continues to count on New Flyer technology for safe and reliable transportation – expanding the added benefit of clean, quiet, sustainable mobility that offers lower maintenance costs and high performance through even the most demanding environments,” he said. “We have more electric buses on the road in America than any other manufacturer, and will keep driving zero-emission adoption with scalable mobility solutions that work.”

New Flyer offers zero-emission buses, zero-emission coaches, and the infrastructure to support an electric fleet.

New Flyer is historically a large bus maker. The company notes that it is North America’s heavy-duty transit bus leader (across powertrains). The Xcelsior and Xcelsior CHARGE offerings are a part of its growing cleantech solutions, which are coming about due to society’s increasing demand for sustainability.

The company also offers “New Flyer Infrastructure Solutions,” which is a supportive suite of solutions providing safe, sustainable, and reliable charging technology and related products and services in order to help the transition to electric vehicles along (and profit on it). The company states:

“New Flyer Infrastructure Solutions™ provides a full suite of comprehensive infrastructure services, with the ability to:

• Optimize energy management strategies between grid and the bus,
• Determine wayside and depot charging requirements,
• Provide design and engineering services for infrastructure,
• Oversee make-ready utility services,
• Conduct site visits,
• Install chargers,
• Coordinate UL certification,
• Provide onsite grid-to-bus testing and commissioning to ensure safe and reliable infrastructure, and
• Provide aftermarket support for service and parts.

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