MTS is premiering new all-electric bus routes across San Diego County. NBC 7’s Joe Little explains why this is good for people living and sleeping near the bus line.
It’s quieter, faster, and cleaner.
San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) cut the ribbon Friday on its new all-electric bus route through San Diego County’s South Bay communities. Twelve new electric buses will transport upwards of 5,000 people every day on the new Rapid Route 227 between the Otay Mesa Port of Entry and Imperial Beach.
“Oh man, it makes you feel good,” smiled MTS bus driver Brent DeMoss. “It’s just faster and quieter and it’s real smooth.”
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It’s cleaner, too.
The new electric buses have no emissions. That’s better than the low emissions of their compressed natural gas (CNG) predecessors. That’s important in communities like Otay Mesa.
“We’re in an area where there’s thousands of 18-wheelers here every day,” said regular MTS customer Moises Caro. “Little by little, if they keep doing this, it’s going to make a lot of difference.”
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“And it’s also quieter for residents of the neighborhoods that we go through,” said MTS Board Chairman and San Diego City Councilman Stephen Whitburn.
An MTS spokesman said 20 out of roughly 750 of the buses in the MTS fleet are electric. He said MTS has until 2040 to make all of them electric. That’s an expensive transition.
“The buses themselves are expensive. In addition to that, we need all of the electric charging infrastructure,” said Whitburn.
The MTS spokesman said an electric 60-foot bus costs approximately $1.7 million versus $1 million for a similar-sized CNG bus.
Hoping to check it out? All rides on the new all-electric Rapid Route 227 will be free Oct. 15-31, MTS said.
