This post was originally featured here. PROVINCETOWN — The Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority received a $14.6-million federal grant in July that will pay for 13 new hybrid-electric buses at around $1 million each, along with a program to teach workers to maintain the vehicles.
Last November, CCRTA revised its timeline for deploying an all-electric fleet from 2030 to 2035 and estimated its new 12-year goal would cost $79 million. The agency currently has 20 hybrid-electric vehicles in its 140-vehicle fleet, but they are smaller Ford E-Transits with a recommended range of only 130 miles and are used only for the agency’s “SmartDART” on-demand trips of under 10 miles, Cahir said.
The new Gillig hybrid buses will replace full-size diesel buses like the ones that run the Flex route from Harwich to Provincetown and back — the main bus route used by workers on Outer Cape Cod, as it offers many stops in Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans, and Brewster.
The Gillig batteries have a range of about 400 miles or four round-trips from Hyannis to Provincetown — which is about equal to the typical daily travel for current diesel buses, Cahir said.
“Ultimately, we’d like to have an entire electric fleet,” Cahir said. “We’ve got 20 now and 13 more coming.”
The CCRTA “moves 800,000 people a year on 140 buses,” Cahir said, adding that the agency’s original 2030 goal for an all-electric fleet had been “an ambitious goal that was not realistic.”
The $14.6-million grant is one of three that went to transit authorities in the state this summer. The MBTA will buy 40 full-size all-electric buses with its $40-million grant from the Federal Transit Administration, and the Vineyard Transit Authority will buy four hybrid buses with its $3.8-million grant, according to the state Dept. of Transportation.
The money comes from a $5.6-billion allocation under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 specifically for low- and no-emissions buses.
John Kennedy, general manager of the CCRTA, has test-driven the 35-foot Gillig hybrid and said the main difference passengers will notice is the lack of engine noise and the speedy acceleration.
“Electric vehicles accelerate very quickly but are as quiet as can be,” Kennedy said. “That’s an improvement for the passenger. You also don’t have to deal with the emissions of a diesel engine.”
Service Issues
Riders at the CCRTA’s bus stop at MacMillan Pier in Provincetown were interested in the prospect of electric buses — but had more to say about other improvements they thought the agency should consider.
“I have waited a couple of hours for a bus — which was horrible,” said Samina Shrestha, 23, who was heading home to North Truro from a shift at Cabot’s Candy in Provincetown.
Shrestha said her morning commute can be stressful because if she misses the 9 a.m. bus, another one will not arrive for an hour. “I think it would really help if we had a frequency of every 15 minutes,” she said.
Christopher Comrie, 27, was commuting to the Lobster Pot’s Lobster and Chowder House in Wellfleet from his home in Provincetown. He said that delays could result from the large number of stops on the Flex bus route.
“There are days that are busy if there’s traffic out there, and you might run a little late, but it’s not the driver’s fault,” Comrie said. “They have to stop at every stop, and sometimes it catches up to them.”
Caleb Cain, 19, used to ride the bus twice a day, four days a week to get from their home in Truro to work in Provincetown. Cain was glad to hear about the new low-emissions buses, but said the frequency and timing of rides were an issue.
“The Flex bus was pretty convenient, clean and nice,” Cain said. “But in the mornings it would usually be early, which was a little bit annoying” as it could cause them to be stranded at the bus stop if they were not early as well. “I can understand why people would want them to come more often,” Cain said.
Bus stops on the Outer Cape do not have some of the features found in larger cities, such as electric displays that say when the next bus will arrive. While the MacMillan Pier stop has solar-powered lights and a shelter, most bus stops here are little more than a bench and a sign.