• COMMENTARY
• COVERAGE OF THE 2016 APTA ANNUAL MEETING
• APTA COMMITTEE PROFILE
• AROUND THE INDUSTRY
• PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

COVERAGE OF THE 2016 APTA ANNUAL MEETING

Members, Partners Make News at Annual Meeting

FTA and two APTA members maximized the Annual Meeting’s large gathering of industry professionals and members of the trade press to make news. A summary follows:


FTA Announces ‘Rides to ­Wellness’ Grants

FTA announced $7.3 million in Rides to Wellness Demonstration and Innovative Coordinated Access and Mobility Grants for 19 projects in 16 states that will help connect people to needed healthcare services through improved access to public transportation. Member agencies received 13 of the 19 grants.

“At FTA, we are pleased to address the needs of some of our nation’s more vulnerable residents by investing in projects that will help improve their health through easier access to public transit,” said FTA Acting Administrator Carolyn Flowers in a follow-up statement. “These grants will help connect transit riders to healthcare services in new and creative ways.”

The grants are part of FTA’s Rides to Wellness Initiative, which supports public transportation as a way for people to access non-emergency healthcare.

“People with limited access to reliable, safe transportation often miss their medical appointments, sometimes with dire consequences,” said DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx. “These grants identify dozens of creative ways to address these problems, providing a lifeline to people who otherwise might skip healthcare visits.”

The largest grants include:

* Almost $1.2 million to PennDOT—working with partners including rabbittransit in York—to fund FindMyRidePA, a one-call, one-click center and real-time transportation service serving central Pennsylvania.

* $1 million to Michigan DOT to expand a brokerage-based program (currently available only in parts of the state) to a statewide model.

* $940,251 to the Bi-State Development Research Institute—a nonprofit organization that is part of Bi-State Development, the agency that oversees public transit in St. Louis—for a mobile clinic program with the St. Louis County Department of Public Health to provide health screenings at several light rail stations.

FTA received 78 applications totaling $28 million from 34 states.

For more details, click here.


Proterra’s Newest Electric Bus Has 350-Mile Range

Proterra unveiled its newest zero-emission bus—the Catalyst E2 series, named for its Efficient Energy (E2) storage capacity of 440-660 kWh—during the Opening General Session, which the company sponsored.

The 40-foot bus can operate up to 350 miles on a single charge under typical test track conditions, which would allow it to serve the full daily mileage needs of most U.S. public transit agencies. Last month an E2 series vehicle logged more than 600 miles on a single charge under test conditions at Michelin’s Laurens Proving Grounds in South Carolina.

“Proterra’s primary goal has always been to create a purpose-built, high-performance electric vehicle that can serve every single transit route in the United States. Today, with the unveiling of the Catalyst E2 Series, that goal has been achieved,” said Chief Executive Officer Ryan Popple. “The question is no longer who will be an early adopter of this technology, but rather who will be the last to commit to a future of clean, efficient and sustainable mobility.”

To date, Proterra buses across the United States have completed more than 2.5 million miles of revenue service, displacing 540,000 gallons of diesel and eliminating more than 10 million pounds of carbon emissions.


BYD Breaks Ground on Facility Expansion

BYD broke ground Sept. 13 on the second of three phases of construction at its vehicle manufacturing facility in ­Lancaster, CA.

“We’re proud to produce efficient, reliable electric trucks and buses in California that help boost the local economy with good paying manufacturing and engineering jobs,” said BYD America President Stella Li. “By standing here today and breaking ground on this Phase II expansion, BYD is demonstrating its long-term commitment to this community to create even more good paying jobs with benefits and career advancement opportunities. The people who work at BYD’s Lancaster plant are assembling buses for transit systems all over the country, and soon we’ll be able to increase production line capacity to deliver these cutting-edge zero-emission vehicles even faster to customers.”

BYD’s coach and bus vehicle plant at the site employs approximately 400 people. The Phase II expansion, scheduled for completion in 2017, will add tens of thousands of square feet to the existing facility and will help the company triple employment in three years, to be followed by a third and final phase that will bring the facility up to its full size and capacity.

 

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