RTC Washoe County to have 80 percent alternative fuel fleet in 2021

The Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Washoe County will add 19 new alternative fuel buses to its fleet during the month of February, continuing the board’s effort to make clean transportation a priority.

Seventeen of the 19 new buses are New Flyer Hybrid electric/biodiesel buses and two buses will be Proterra electric buses. Some of the hybrid buses are already running as part of RTC’s transit system. The two Proterra all-electric buses will debut on the RTC’s extended RAPID Virginia Line when it launches in early March 2021.

The hybrid buses will replace aging, end-of-life vehicles. When all of the new buses are deployed, 55 out of the 68 buses in RTC’s fleet, or more than 80 percent, will be hybrid or electric alternative-fuel vehicles. The RTC’s goal is to have an all-alternative-fuel fleet by 2035. The RTC used federal funds to purchase the buses.

The RTC says it is committed to improving sustainability across the agency and throughout the community. Since 2010, the RTC has reduced total facility energy use by 25 percent, reduced criteria air pollutants per unlinked passenger trip by 13.1 percent and increased the recycling rate to approximately 33 percent.

In July 2017, the RTC Board formally adopted its award-winning Sustainability Plan as the guiding document on the future of sustainability for the agency. This plan identifies the existing transportation and operational sustainability measures undertaken by the RTC and establishes goals to continue to reduce fuel consumption, improve air quality and further minimize the carbon footprint of RTC operational activities.