ART’s electric buses: worse for the environment and will require costly additional facilities

Dowd Muska provided some additional information about how the Berry Administration’s move to electric buses for their ART system is a bad idea that will cost more than traditional diesel buses, but wait…there’s even more bad news!

According to Conservation which is published by University of Washington:, electric buses are actually worse for the environment than their diesel counterparts:

A recent life cycle assessment (LCA) compared battery-powered electric buses to diesel-powered (internal combustion engine) mass transit buses. (1) It revealed that diesel buses have smaller environmental impacts in eight of the 11 impact categories studied. Diesel buses fare better in important environmental categories such as global warming potential (GWP; i.e., carbon footprint), ozone depletion potential, and carcinogens released into the environment. The battery-powered bus fared better only with respect to aquatic eutrophication, land acidification, and the release of non-carcinogens such as mercury, cyanide, and nitrates.

Of course, ABQ RIDE now faces a slew of additional costs (to be born by Albuquerque taxpayers) has no tools, no equipment, no training or knowledge by which the electric buses could be integrated into the system without huge “Support Facility” investment.

Just the electric bus recharging facilities would be a major expense, and would require new lines, terminals, electric service upgrades, and a host of other tools needed to maintain electric buses. Of course, since the rest of the system will remain intact, there will be few cost savings.