Owensboro’s first all-electric public bus has arrived and will be hitting the streets in early May.
Pamela Canary, Owensboro Transit System Manager, said the bus arrived at the beginning of the month. Before it could be utilized, some staff had to go through training to learn how to take care of the bus.
With that step complete, the bus was dropped off Monday morning to be wrapped so that it will look uniform to the other buses in the system.
However, there will be noticeable differences. For starters, Canary said the electric model is much quieter than the other buses.
Plus, it’s significantly larger than the other buses. According to Canary, the electric bus is about 30-35 feet long and a little over 11 feet tall — so it is able to seat eight more guests and allows for more standing room.
“It’s definitely going to be eye-catching when it’s going down the road that’s for sure. People are going to notice that it’s quite a bit different in appearance,” she said.
The bus cost nothing to the City, as it was a purchased using a competitive grant awarded nearly 2 years ago. Part of the grant required that the electric model would replace a former bus in the system.
