Riding the bus at CSU is about to get greener. Transfort, the transit agency that serves CSU and is owned by the City of Fort Collins, is announcing the addition of two battery electric buses to its fleet as part of the City’s Transportation Electrification Plan and the EV Readiness Roadmap. CSU has a contract with Transfort to provide service to CSU students and employees. There are currently 11 Transfort routes that operate on the CSU campus.
The public is invited to join Transfort and City officials on Friday, April 22 (Earth Day), to publicly reveal the new buses and celebrate this important milestone. Each bus is covered in a unique Fort Collins-themed wrap to commemorate their addition to Transfort’s fleet. A formal reveal event will be held on Earth Day from noon to 1 p.m. at the 201-299 N. Howes St. parking lot behind City Hall. Following that celebration, a bus will be available for a public walk through/open house-style event from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. along Mountain Avenue just off Old Town Square. The embedded QR code links to more information.
Transfort received the two battery electric buses in January 2022 using funding from VW Settlement Funds and the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program. Additionally, Transfort installed two depot chargers at its maintenance facility in December 2021 with FTA 5339 funding.
The buses were tested and bus operators trained on routes, including those on the CSU campus. Plans to purchase an additional battery electric bus and charging station are underway and Transfort expects delivery and installation to be complete by late 2023. In all, Transfort has funding for a total of 11 battery electric buses by 2025, making 21 percent of the fleet battery electric. Transfort plans to convert its entire 53-bus fleet to electric by 2040.
A future with all electric buses will reduce tailpipe emissions, creating cleaner air for CSU and the surrounding community. The transition to emissions-free public transit is a strategy for municipal sustainability and is in line with the City’s and University’s climate action plans. For more information, visit: http://ridetransfort.com/batteryelectricbusevent
