A federal program will provide free technical assistance to The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) to analyze how local public transit agencies in northern Virginia could share infrastructure that allows electric buses to recharge while running their routes. On-route charging enables buses to recharge their batteries on the go rather than having to return to a garage to plug in, potentially extending the range of the buses, which could improve reliability and lower infrastructure costs for battery-electric buses.
Several bus providers in northern Virginia – including Arlington Transit, Alexandria Transit Company, Fairfax Connector and Metrobus – have overlapping routes that could be effective for shared on-route charging.. The analysis will identify potential locations for those chargers.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act created the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, which works with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to provide technical assistance. NVTC submitted a successful request for assistance from the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation to evaluate potential sites for shared charging and consider how the operational model would function. The year-long analysis comes at no cost to NVTC or local or state governments. NVTC will work closely with northern Virginia's public transit agencies to advance the study.
"We are grateful to the Biden Administration, the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for providing this valuable technical assistance to ensure that northern Virginia continues to lead the nation in public transit innovation," said NVTC Chair Matt de Ferranti. "This no-cost assistance reduces barriers in the critical transition to zero-emission buses in our region and demonstrates the importance of regional collaboration in addressing climate and transportation issues."
Examining on-route charging is one of six strategies identified by NVTC's Northern Virginia Zero-Emission Bus Strategic Plan, published earlier this year.
