Miami-Dade County rolls out latest electric bus; launches bus stop improvement program
Officials from Miami-Dade County celebrated its latest electric bus to enter service and to kick off an anticipated program to improve bus stops at a Feb. 2 event help at the Stephen P. Clark Center.
The event began after Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Miami-Dade County Commissioner Eileen Higgins and Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) Director and CEO Eulois Cleckley arrived via the new 40-foot Proterra electric bus.
“Along with safe neighborhoods, quality housing and good jobs, everyone deserves a reliable transportation network that gets them where they need to go,” said Mayor Levine Cava. “We’re fast tracking our work to build key transit corridors to connect every neighborhood in our county…we want you to live more and drive less.”
The new bus is the one of 40 electric vehicles now in service throughout the county. It is also one of 75 the county ordered from Proterra first in 2019, with an order of 33 vehicles followed in 2021 by an additional 42 buses. The company also supplied 75 chargers that Miami-Dade County has installed at three depots.
The county has received 64 of the 75 ordered vehicles. Once the entire order is put into service, electric buses will represent 10 percent of DTPW’s fleet. Mayor Levine Cava noted the buses were manufactured at Proterra’s Greenville, S.C., plant and represent an investment in the future, environment and safety of Miami-Dade County.
The county’s growing transit fleet will also be stopping at more modern bus stops with the launch of the Bus Passenger Shelter Program. The Stephen P. Clark Center where the Feb. 2 event was held is the location of the first new shelter. The program includes the installation new bus shelters, trash containers, bicycle racks, improved pedestrian accessibility to and from bus shelters and a complete renovation of the existing bus passenger shelter inventory installed within Miami-Dade County's Metrobus service area.
Cleckley explained the program ensures bus shelters are maintained, safe, clean and appealing for all users. He said overall ridership has recovered to 86 percent of pre-COVID levels, but Metrobus, which serves 70 percent of the entire DTPW system, has ridership that has returned fully to pre-pandemic levels.
Mischa Wanek-Libman | Group Editorial Director
Mischa Wanek-Libman is director of communications with Transdev North America. She has more than 20 years of experience working in the transportation industry covering construction projects, engineering challenges, transit and rail operations and best practices.
Wanek-Libman has held top editorial positions at freight rail and public transportation business-to-business publications including as editor-in-chief and editorial director of Mass Transit from 2018-2024. She has been recognized for editorial excellence through her individual work, as well as for collaborative content.
She is an active member of the American Public Transportation Association's Marketing and Communications Committee and served 14 years as a Board Observer on the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Board of Directors.
She is a graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication.
