Last year CityLink purchased 3 fully electric buses.
The local transit agency unveiled the buses in September with hopes of having them out on the streets the following month. But for various reasons, the buses weren't fully operational until recently.
In a conversation with WCBU correspondent Hannah Alani, CityLink spokesperson Emily Watson describes how it feels to finally have these buses out in the world.
Emily Watson: Definitely a long time coming. We did the unavailing last fall, and we had some setbacks with getting them out on the road. And so we're really excited to finally have them out on the road, especially now that the weather's getting nicer outside so people can get out and about and ride the bus. We're just really excited that they're finally out there transporting passengers.
Hannah Alani: Can you describe some of those setbacks that you faced getting them out on the road?
Emily Watson: We had some issues with the infrastructure regarding the charging stations. One of the buses had some issues with the battery itself. And so it was just it seemed like challenge after challenge happened. And And so finally, we are in a good place where all three buses are operational. And it was just the right time for us to finally get those out on the road.
Hannah Alani: Have you been hearing from any CityLink riders and passengers who have had the opportunity to ride these electric buses? Have they reached out and talked about their experience?
Emily Watson: I don't know if every passenger realizes that they're in that specific bus whenever they're riding it unless they're noticing how quiet it is. Because I think a lot of times, passengers are kind of tunnel vision; they just get on their bus and go. But we do hope that they are noticing a big difference because they look completely different on the outside. They look a lot different on the inside. And they're so much quieter and have zero emissions. So they are 100% more environmentally friendly.
... This is an exciting time for Peoria to have electric buses that have zero diesel, zero emissions coming out of them. And we hope that they noticed them when they're driving around. I certainly do when I see them out and about because they look so different from our other buses. We just hope that it's exciting. And we want to try to continue moving forward with being environmentally friendly. And you know, I'm sure we have a future of more zero emission buses.
Hannah Alani: These buses definitely are a lot quieter than the normal diesel powered bus.
Emily Watson: On the outside and on the inside, when you're riding it, you can tell a huge difference. You're not hearing as much clatter happening. And so I think that once people get used to seeing them and riding on them, they will be able to tell a big difference. But I just hope that as we continue to get more of these types of buses that people start noticing them. Because right now we just have three, but I think in the future, we'll have more electric or possibly hybrid buses. We have four of those right now, too. We're definitely looking into the future. And I'm hoping to get more of these types of buses.
Hannah Alani: The engineers and maintenance crews that work on these buses, they're now trained in three different systems, right? Traditional diesel, hybrid, and fully electric. So that was probably a big learning curve for them?
Emily Watson: Absolutely, yes, I know, our maintenance staff had a big learning curve when it comes to electric buses. Most of the mechanics that we have are used to diesel buses. That's what they've known their whole lives. And so having an electric bus is a totally different animal. We've learned that in so many ways. And I know there was a learning curve for them as well with the hybrid buses. And this is just another stepping stone. And they've had extensive training.
Our drivers have had extensive training as well. Because even though they are similar to a diesel bus and operating, there's still differences that they need to be aware of.
One thing that we did very early on, when we got these buses, we did some emergency training with some of the local first responders, because this is the largest type of electric vehicle we have in this area. So if it was involved in some type of emergency situation, we want them to know how to properly respond. So we actually took one of the buses over to East Peoria, and several different fire departments from the area came and they were able to get up close and personal with the buses, and just learn how they operate. We also had some training at our facilities for some first responders, too. So those were things that I know I personally didn't think about when you think of an electric bus. But it is totally true. You have to be prepared if those they're involved in some type of emergency.
Hannah Alani: There aren't many cities of Peoria's size in Illinois doing this, right? If I remember from the unveiling ... Peoria was the first to go ahead and actually purchase its own fleet, or start its own fleet?
Emily Watson: Yeah, I believe we were one of the first. I know Bloomington-Normal has gotten some, since I think they have a few more than we do. And they're also Proterra buses, which is what we have. But yeah, we were some of the early innovators, I guess you could say, of having electric buses and bringing them into our fleet. And so that's one thing that we try to do is be innovative and try new things. We use biodiesel fuel, which is something that not a lot of transit agencies are doing. And so that is just one other way that we continue to try to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
The weather's getting nice out. So come ride the bus. The electric buses specifically are out usually earlier in the morning, and then in the afternoon, because they do have to go back and charge at certain points of the day. So if you're kind of trying to plan to ride one, I would make sure you go either earlier in the morning or maybe early afternoon. And you should be able to get a ride on one of them and see how quiet and beautiful those buses are.
Hannah Alani: Any advice for listeners who want to try to schedule a ride for themselves? If they go online, is there a way to figure out what route is going to have which electric bus, or what time they can pick one up?
Emily Watson: Unfortunately, we can't tell you specifically which route it's going to be on. None of our buses are route specific. So there's a possibility that these buses could be anywhere in our service area. They could be in Peoria, but we also have routes in East Peoria and Pekin. And there's a possibility that they could be in either of those communities as well. So I can't specifically tell you what time. I just can tell you, if you come earlier in the morning or later, or in the early afternoon, there's more likelihood of a chance you'd be able to ride one. But it just kind of depends on where you're wanting to go to. From what I understand speaking to our operations and maintenance, we aren't using these buses specifically for any particular route.
And visit our website, CityLink.org. You can see all of our routes on there. We just made some pretty major changes to our route. So it's always great to go on there and see the latest and greatest because you want to make sure you know exactly where you need to go. And there is a trip planner on there as well that uses Google Maps. So pretty much everything you need from CityLink's perspective is on our website. And it's a great resource for anyone wanting to learn more information about what we do.
