The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet), which serves Portland’s metropolitan area, will add 24 battery electric buses into service in 2024. The first of those buses began operations on the city’s Line 9-Powell in July, serving the space between downtown Portland and the Gresham Central Transit Center.
These U.S.-made zero-emission e-buses were purchased from GILLIG, a bus manufacturer based in Livermore, California. GILLIG equips its state-of-the-art e-buses with six lithium-ion battery packs, and TriMet recharges these batteries every time a bus returns to the Powell Operations Facility in outer Southeast Portland.
With assistance from the federal government and Portland General Electric, TriMet recently added 24 charging stations at the Powell Facility.
Each e-bus has an electric motor that runs on battery power, with a range of well over 150 miles on a single charge in the new e-buses. TriMet will evaluate how they perform over the next few months, handling hilly terrain, varying temperatures and traffic conditions.
These new e-buses have 33% more battery capacity than the previous GILLIG e-buses introduced in 2021, and they can charge on the go. Similar to the short-range New Flyer battery electric buses introduced in 2019, they’re equipped with overhead charging rails for fast charging.
Older diesel buses will be replaced as the 24 new e-buses join 10 e-buses already in service with TriMet, which more than triples the number of zero-emissions buses in the fleet. TriMet has set a goal of a full transition to zero-emissions buses by 2040.
The Federal Transit Administration awarded TriMet a $39 million grant recently, and TriMet plans to purchase its first 14 hydrogen fuel cell electric buses before the end of the decade. These 60-foot articulated fuel-cell electric buses will run along the busy 82nd Avenue corridor. TriMet and Metro intend to open a high-capacity rapid bus transit line, similar to FX2-Division, along 82nd Avenue sometime in 2029.
FTA’s grant will also pay for the infrastructure and training to support these buses, including further upgrades for the Powell Operations Facility.
TriMet also recently received a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation for the development of the Columbia Operations Facility.
