Anyone who spends significant time in Hyannis, Falmouth or Woods Hole knows that the Steamship Authority is about more than ferries to and from the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard.
The Steamship Authority also moves a lot of its customers around on land, getting them to and from parking lots in Hyannis to the Ocean Street terminal and from the Palmer Avenue lot in Falmouth to the Woods Hole terminal.
Now, the Steamship Authority has made a move toward greater energy efficiency with the addition of three electric buses to transport passengers.
“Now that our first electric buses are in hand, we are excited to put them into use and continue our efforts to make our operations more environmentally friendly,” said General Manager Robert Davis.
The Authority’s board approved spending for the new buses in 2021, and the ferry line had hoped to have the new buses in service earlier, but the pandemic, and the supply chain problems that sprang up around it, led to delays.
The approximately $3 million purchase price was offset by two grants the Authority received in 2019 totaling $875,000. One was from the Volkswagen Settlement Grant Program administered by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection and the other was awarded under the Federal Transit Administration’s Low or No-Emission Program.
“It's a significant capital investment on our part and there are other savings involved, and we know it's our responsibility to act in the most environmentally conscious way that we can. And these buses are now a mature technology that we are eager to get going on our bus routes,” said Steamship Authority spokesman Sean Driscoll.
The Authority’s bus drivers are training on the new buses, which are expected to go into service in Falmouth and Hyannis in mid-July. And, there are more electric buses on the way.
“As we continue to replace buses every year our plan is to transition to an electric fleet as we make those purchases. We've got four more coming later this year, so that will be seven by the end of 2023. So this is the first of many steps for us,” Driscoll said.
The Authority board has authorized spending up to $4 million for the next round of buses.
For more information on the Steamship Authority’s environmental initiatives visit www.steamshipauthority.com/green.
