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King County Metro Welcomes New Trolleybuses

King County Metro Transit in Seattle recently introduced the first of 174 replacement trolleybuses from New Flyer—the agency’s first new electric trolleybuses in almost three decades—with the rest of the order being phased in over the next two years.

The agency will begin by introducing 110 40-foot coaches to service, followed by 64 60-foot buses in early 2016.

The new trolleys will use up to 30 percent less electricity than the current fleet and will significantly reduce operating costs. The agency operates the second largest trolleybus fleet in the nation.

“Electric trolleys are ideal for moving people in dense urban environments, making up 12 percent of our fleet but carrying 20 percent of our weekday riders,” King County Executive Dow Constantine said. “And they emit zero emissions. By running trolleys instead of diesel-hybrid buses over the next five years, we are keeping 42,000 metric tons of greenhouse-gas emissions out of our air,” compared with King County Metro’s hybrid buses.

Unlike older trolleybuses, the new model provides passenger-activated back doors for easier exiting and the ability to go off-wire for short distances to detour around construction zones and other obstacles and stay on schedule.

The trolleybus order costs an estimated $186 million, with federal grants covering approximately 65 percent. According to King County Metro, the electric trolleybuses will cost less to operate than its hybrid fleet once fuel consumption, maintenance and grant funding are ­factored in. Metro had been extending the life of older buses through refurbishment, but those coaches become outdated and unreliable as their electrical systems and motors wear out.

Down the Road: Battery-Powered Buses
The agency also is awaiting the arrival of three prototype battery buses that will use up to 30 percent less electricity than the current fleet and will significantly reduce operating costs. Constantine previewed one of the battery-powered prototypes at the event.

The three 40-foot battery-electric buses from Proterra, funded with a $4.7 million federal grant, are scheduled to arrive over the next four to six months. The new 38-seat buses can travel up to 23 miles between charges and remain on the road up to 24 hours a day. Batteries take 10 minutes or less to charge and the agency has already set up a charging station at a park-and-ride lot.

Metro will test the performance and efficiency of the new technology for up to a year on local streets and roads to determine whether battery-electric buses can be a future replacement option for its operations. The three prototypes will likely be tested on short routes serving the Eastside and downtown Seattle.

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