In March of this year, during the Budget debate, I announced that as part of the Government’s commitment to protecting the island’s environment, the Ministry of Transport is starting by purchasing 30 electric buses.
We purchased the new buses from Golden Dragon Bus Company Ltd in China during the summer. The Company recently completed the pre-delivery inspections and is currently preparing the buses to be shipped from Shanghai to Bermuda.
I am very excited to announce that the project has progressed despite global supply chain issues. We anticipate that the buses will be arriving on three shipments over the next few months. But more so because they are scheduled to go into service in April 2022 following commissioning and staff training.
The Department of Transportation is recruiting additional bus operators, which will ensure that we have the resources required to provide a reliable and consistent public bus service.
To support the new buses, as part of the Government’s economic recovery plan, we are in the process of constructing interim charging stations at Dockyard, St. George and Fort Langton bus depots to support the initial 30 buses until the permanent charging infrastructure is ready. These charging stations will be fed from existing BELCO circuits and completed in March 2022.
The initial RFP for the new electric buses envisioned transitioning the entire bus fleet to electric over ten years. The permanent charging infrastructure will accommodate the whole fleet. The RFP for this new infrastructure is concluding, and the contract award is anticipated early in the new year. The build will take one year to complete.
Additionally, we look forward to the Ministry of Public Works completing its solar PV project for the Fort Langton bus garage that will produce energy to assist with charging the buses.
I take this opportunity to remind commuters who use public buses and ferries to follow the Ministry of Health COVID-19 guidelines for travelling on public transportation. Not only for their safety but also the hard-working staff of the Departments of Public Transportation and the Department of Marine and Ports Services.
I now invite Mr. Roger Todd, Director of the Department of Public Transportation, to share the operational aspects of the new buses and charging infrastructure.————————————————————————Any content which is considered unsuitable, unlawful, or offensive, includes personal details, advertises or promotes products, services or websites, or repeats previous comments will be removed.
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