Proterra announced that eight new and existing customers have won Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Low or No Emission Vehicle Deployment Grants. The 2016 Low-No grant winners will use their funds, a total of $22.8 million, to purchase 35 Catalyst buses, bringing Proterra’s total number of firm orders to 287 vehicles from 38 cities across the United States. With more than 2.4 million miles of revenue service, Proterra has more battery-electric buses on the road in North America than any other manufacturer.
For Low-No grant recipients like Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), this represents a new era of mobility as the Silicon Valley’s transit agency expects to roll out five 40’ Catalyst XR buses as a pilot program to support their innovation strategy, which aims to improve the transit customer experience, offer better transportation choices, and optimize VTA vehicles, roadways and other mobility infrastructure. VTA serves nearly two million residents with an average weekday ridership of 104,583, and is incubating a number of technologies to optimize the transit customer experience.
“As the transit agency serving Silicon Valley, the most emblematic innovation hub in the world, it is our role to provide our communities with the most forward-thinking mobility solutions on the market,” said Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority general manager and CEO Nuria Fernandez. “Integrating Proterra’s zero emission buses into our system is a top priority as we continue to redefine our transit systems. We’re pleased to embark on this partnership with Proterra, as the company helps us achieve our innovation and sustainability goals.”
From Delaware to Washington to Louisiana, electric bus adoption is growing amongst a diverse group of transit agencies from coast-to-coast. Other transit agencies that have embraced the benefits of Proterra’s zero-emission electric bus and that also received Low-No grants include:
· Delaware Transit Corporation (Wilmington, DE) will receive six 35’ Catalyst XR buses
· Everett Transit (Everett, WA) will receive four 40’ Catalyst XR buses
· Lextran (Lexington, KY) will receive one 40’ Catalyst FC bus
· Park City Transit (Park City, UT) will receive six 40’ Catalyst FC buses
· Pierce Transit (Pierce County, WA) will receive two 40’ Catalyst FC buses
· Port Arthur Transit (Port Arthur, TX) will receive six 35’ Catalyst FC buses
· SporTran (Shreveport, LA) will receive five 35’ Catalyst FC buses
“For so long transit agencies had little choice when it came to mass transit solutions, so we take great pride in in the fact that we are enabling the national shift from fossil fuel to electric,” said Ryan Popple, CEO of Proterra. “This additional wave of orders underscores our nation’s commitment to democratize and decarbonize transit, which is a key enabler of prosperity, job security and improved air quality.”
