A soot-covered NJ Transit diesel bus travels north on the New Jersey Turnpike. Environmentalists want diesels replaced with electric buses to reduce pollution.
(Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
(Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
Larry Higgs reports for NJ.com:
Diesel buses stink.
Drivers instinctively roll up the windows when they’re driving behind one and pedestrians hold their breath when a diesel bus passes by.
So why hasn’t NJ Transit made the switch to electric buses?
Environmentalists, who seek to clean the air to reduce respiratory diseases like asthma, want electric buses seriously considered as NJ Transit drafts a new plan to replace aging urban buses, starting in 2022.
Currently, NJ Transit has doesn’t have any electric buses in its fleet. New York’s MTA is testing 10 electric buses in Manhattan and Brooklyn and Queens.
“People who depend on transit to get around are exposed to diesel exhaust that’s causing respiratory problems,” said Amy Goldsmith, Clean Water Action state director. “New Jersey needs to institute a financial plan to replace dirty diesels.”
Environmentalists want electric buses used in cities such as Newark, Camden and Jersey City which they said have high rates of respiratory diseases caused by exhaust and particulate from diesel vehicles.
Northeastern states such as New Jersey can reduce pollution by cutting emissions from transportation, said a Natural Resources Defense Council report issued last month. Part of that strategy calls on transit agencies to replace diesel buses with electrics, especially in cities. Other ideas call for more transit use and replacing gas-powered cars with electrics.
Would electric buses really make a difference?
A 2016 Columbia University study of electric bus use by New York City’s MTA said air pollution generated by buses would be significantly reduced.
Electrics could prevent the generation of 486,068 metric tons of carbon dioxide that now spew out of MTA diesel bus tailpipes. Even when factoring in the 91,222 metric tons of CO2 produced by power plants that generate electricity to charge the buses, that’s still a big drop, the study said.
The nagging question is how to pay for them.
Electric buses cost about $300,000 more than the $450,000 to $750,000 price for a diesel, according to the Columbia study. Some of the cost can be recouped from money saved in fuel and reduced maintenance costs for electrics.
NJ Transit received a $500,000 federal grant for electric buses, said Nancy Snyder, an NJ Transit spokeswoman. But it’s not enough to buy one bus.
“NJ Transit has been investigating electric bus opportunities for a couple of years,” she said. “The agency has applied for funding grants to support an electric bus program, but was not awarded grants which would be sufficiently sized to begin a program.”
Like this? Click to receive free updates
