The Antelope Valley Transit Authority’s (AVTA) zero-emission buses currently deployed in service have collectively reached the three-million-mile mark.
AVTA’s zero-emission buses collectively accumulated three million service miles moving residents of the Antelope Valley around Lancaster, Palmdale and the unincorporated portions of northern Los Angeles County such as Pearblossom, Little Rock and Lake Los Angeles.
AVTA Chairman of the Board Marvin Crist highlighted some of the benefits to the community and beyond that are a result of the electrification of AVTA’s fleet.
“In those three million electric miles, approximately 769,231 gallons of diesel fuel have been saved,” said Crist. “This equates to a net savings of $1,018,207 in fuel costs after paying for electricity. Even more impressive, those three million all-electric miles represent a carbon footprint reduction of more than 18.2 million pounds of CO2 and 43,594 pounds of particulate matter."
Since February 2016, when the AVTA Board of Directors voted to award a contract to BYD to manufacture electric buses over a five-year period at BYD’s facility in Lancaster, AVTA says it has been on the path to pioneering battery electric bus transportation. The project, which is nearing completion, has created a smarter, greener and more interconnected transit system serving the Antelope Valley and areas extending south into the Los Angeles basin and north to Edwards Air Force Base and the Mojave Air and Space Port. By combining electric bus technology with wireless inductive charging technology, AVTA says its bus project is the first of its kind in the nation.
“AVTA operates 93 vehicles in our fleet, 61 of which are zero-emission,” said AVTA Executive Director and CEO Macy Neshati. “The majority of our electric fleet consists of BYD electric buses, manufactured right here in the Antelope Valley. Our goal from the start was to be the first transit agency to implement electric bus technology on a broad scale, and we have met that goal.”
