The days of loud, diesel-fueled buses may be a thing of the past in Wichita.
Much like Dallas, San Francisco and Columbus, Wichita is working to replace its diesel buses with smaller, 100% electric buses
Mike Tann, Wichita’s transit direct, says in April, a grant was awarded for six buses to replace the trollies. Shortly after that, there was a release of no emission money that was available for transit departments to apply for, so the city did.
“We applied for those the final submittal was in June for another six, and just recently, we received notification of additional capital purchase of new buses,” said Tann.
In total, the city is looking to get about 18 buses.
The cost of buying electric buses is higher than diesel buses, but Tann says the city would save millions of dollars in the long run.
He estimates operating costs for six diesel buses over the course of 20 years would be $8,033,760 compared to $2,282,120 for six electric buses.
(Read more: KWCH News)