LIHU‘E — To meet the statewide requirement to transition light-vehicle fleets to zero-emissions by 2035, the county is moving forward on plans to purchase several electric transit buses.
County Executive on Transportation Celia Mahikoa reported that the county is about to begin requesting proposals to manufacture and deliver four heavy-duty, low-floor, battery-electric transit buses and chargers through a cooperative agreement with Hawai‘i and Maui counties.
The county also submitted grant requests to the Federal Transit Administration to fund a future purchase of four additional buses and charging infrastructure.
The buses would replace diesel-powered vehicles that have outlived their useful service lives.
“Achieving the statewide goal of transitioning its government fleets to electric vehicles by 2035 will prompt the need to replace an average of four diesel buses with electric buses per year,” said Mahikoa.
House Bill 552, which passed the state Legislature last year, requires all light-duty vehicles in the state fleet be transitioned to zero-emissions by 2035.
The County Council approved the request to apply for the grant funding to purchase the four additional buses last Wednesday.
“The federal funds are there, billions of dollars to invest in our roads and highways, in our transportation systems across the country, long overdue,” said Councilmember KipuKai Kuali‘i. “I think it’s important that we here on Kaua‘i try to get our share of that.”
The initiative will be largely subsidized by new federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. In addition to providing billions of dollars in other infrastructure investments, the bill — also referred to as the Investment in Infrastructure and Jobs Act — gives $1.5 billion in grants to modernize bus fleets and facilities.
“Manufacturing thousands of new, American-built buses will create jobs all over our nation, offering cleaner, faster and safer rides as we move toward a better transportation future,” said FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez in a release on the grant funding.
“When transit agencies are applying for these grants, they will propose projects that address climate change, improve air quality, open new opportunities and include workforce training to help workers transition to operating and maintaining these new, clean energy fleets,” said Fernandez.
The county will still be asked to shoulder a portion of the burden in matching funds.
The total cost of the purchase of four buses, including the charging infrastructure and required workforce-development training, is $5,300,000 in federal funds and $930,000 from the county, Mahikoa said.
Mahikoa reported that the Transportation Agency planned to include requests for matching funds in their budget requests in 2023 and 2024.
Alongside the purchase of the new vehicles is the two-phase plan to expand The Kaua‘i Bus maintenance facility and outfit it to support electric vehicles.
Phase one includes the expansion of the Lihu‘e base yard with the installation of charging infrastructure for electric buses, and phase two includes the construction of a satellite base yard in Kapa‘a that will serve to secure buses, install charging infrastructure and provide a small structure for drivers to begin and end their shifts.
The total cost of phase one is expected to be $3,850,000 in federal funds and $895,000 from the county, while phase two is projected at $2,840,000 federal funds and $710,000 from the county.
Mahikoa said that because of variables at play in transitioning the fleet, she could not predict whether the transition would save money in the long term. She projected that, if approved, the electric buses would begin operating within the next two and a half years.
•••
Guthrie Scrimgeour, reporter, can be reached at 647-0329 or gscrimgeour@thegardenisland.com.
