OPINION: Why NYC’s future depends on electric buses

November 20, 2017 By Sarah Busch For Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Sarah Busch. Photo courtesy of Sarah Busch

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When the L train in New York City shuts down in 2019 for 15 months, car and bus traffic will significantly increase the carbon footprint. Zero emission buses should be replaced for the train service, instead of the planned 200 diesel buses, to help these 200,000 daily commuters get to their destination. If New York City wants to reach its goal to reduce emissions to 80 percent of 2005 levels by 2050, the transportation sector, and the public bus system in particular, needs to be completely restructured and the best way is the change towards electric buses. The change will have three major benefits: Profit (economy), planet (environment) and people (health).

It’s Good for the Economy

An electric bus has a $750,000 upfront investment, which is around $250,000 more than traditional diesel buses. However, annual savings for electric buses are estimated at $110,000, which makes it more cost-efficient in the third year of its 12-year lifetime. In addition, lifetime maintenance costs are almost $240,000 lower than traditional buses.

The storage capacity of electric batteries increased significantly over the last few years and the Proterra Catalyst E2 Max just set a new record with more than 1,100 miles on a single battery. At the same time, the price of a bus decreased by more than 20 percent in the last five years ($980,000 to $750,000).

It’s Good for the Environment

In the U.S., the transportation sector represents 27 percent of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In New York, it’s even worse, at 36 percent. One of the principle reasons New York is above the national average is the public bus transit system. With an annual bus ridership of 764 million, New York’s buses carried more passenger than Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco combined. New York City is the 22nd most polluted city in the U.S. for year-round particle-pollution. Electric buses will reduce alternative fuels reduce petroleum consumption as well as climate change damages caused by GHGs. The current fleet consists of diesel, hybrid diesel, compressed natural gas and the earlier mentioned 10 electric buses. Of these different options, electric buses have the lowest greenhouse gas emissions and allow for a transition on the power grid to renewable energy. The carbon footprint in New York can be reduced by 575,000 metric tons annually if the entire fleet of 5,710 buses gets replaced with electric vehicles. This reduction is the equivalent to the entire annual CO2 emissions of Bermuda.

It’s Good for People’s Health

According to a new report by the Lancet Commission, pollution is responsible for an estimated 9 million premature deaths worldwide. Buses are a major source of small particles (PM2.5) in the air in New York. In New York City, the current PM2.5 level leads to 6,300 visits to the emergency department and 2,300 deaths every year. The PM2.5 is small enough to be inhaled deeply and can lead to decreased lung function, changes in heart rhythm and blood flow, high blood pressure and increased risk of chronic diseases and death.

MTA announced in April 2017 that it will lease 10 electric buses for a three-year pilot program in 2017. The test fleet of Proterra and New Flyer buses will serve routes in Manhattan and Brooklyn starting this December. The MTA operates more than 5,700 buses in New York City, so a three-year long pilot program with only 10 buses doesn’t seem very ambitious. The main question is how to afford the transition to more electric buses. The MTA and New York City Transit don’t have enough funds to support the project. However, there are other options such as the Volkswagen Settlement fund.

The settlement is the result of Volkswagen’s violations of the Clean Air Act. They agreed to a settlement of $14.7 billion, of which $2.7 billion will go toward the Environmental Mitigation Trust. The trust allocates millions of dollars to various states, including New York, to invest toward clean transportation programs. New York must announce its proposal for the distribution of the settlement money by Dec. 1, and environmental groups and nonprofit organizations are urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to use the money for the replacement of diesel buses. New York, which prides itself with striving to be one of the greenest cities in the U.S., needs to increase the number of electric buses and New Yorkers need to keep fighting for their right to cleaner air.

Sarah Busch is a grad student at NYU with a focus on global affairs and environmental policies.