A sure sign that autumn is here. 🍂The autumn bus drivers are back… And the 719 bus is only running 15 minutes late, complete with a CDTA supervisor escort.🚓🚌 I hope at least they found a bus that doesn’t stall out on the expressway. Maybe I’ll make it home by six o’clock.🕧
Some how during the summer they can make the 719 buses reliable and on time. But come autumn through spring, they only send out the jalopies with the tardy drivers out to Voorheesville.
"The Capital District Transportation Authority is considering a pilot program of about five to ten battery-electric buses, CEO Carm Basile said at a board committee meeting on Thursday."
"CDTA’s interest in electric buses was already known—it has secured (but not yet spent) a federal grant to cover about one vehicle and charging station, and its latest five-year capital plan signals an interest in buying more—but the open discussion during a planning and stakeholder relations committee meeting last week underscored the many complications and tradeoffs the public authority must consider as it moves away from fossil fuels."
"One issue involves power and related capital upgrades. CDTA’s headquarters on Watervliet Ave. in Albany, likely the first place the authority would install depot chargers, might need a $1 to $3 million upgrade, one staffer said. Multiple chargers running simultaneously might use as much electricity as the whole building currently uses."
"Buses emit a lot of carbon dioxide, but BYD is making our fleets cleaner."
I think this goal is more realistic than people realize. I would have doubted it five years ago but technology has advanced and 18650 li-on cells are quite inexpensive. You get enough of them together and you can power a bus for a good long day. Software and controllers for managing batteries has gotten much better lately too. There are still issues with extremely hot and cold weather with battery powered buses but they are the future. Grid electricity is so much cheaper than diesel and with more and more wind coming online there is surplus of cheap electricity in the early morning hours when most people are sleeping.
This interactive map shows the routing of CDTA buses. Unfortunately the way this map was made, the lowest numbered bus routes are overlaid over the higher laid bus routes, but it's an over the whole system.