CTE is pleased to announce our work with Lawrence Transit to deploy five new electric buses in Lawrence, Kansas. Funded by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Low or No Emission Vehicle (Low-No) program, this project is the first step in the City of Lawrence's recently passed ordinance to convert 100% of their fleet to clean energy by 2035. Additional project partners include Kansas University, GILLIG, and ChargePoint.

As part of our Smart Deployment Services, CTE will provide technical support and act as project manager, which includes project planning, route, charger, and rate modeling, as well as key performance indicator (KPI) reporting. Project partners also include GILLIG and ChargePoint, who will provide the vehicles and technology needed to make this deployment a success.

This deployment of five forty-foot zero-emission GILLIG buses will be used on routes serving the City of Lawrence; buses in Lawrence currently travel more than 8,000 miles per day. By replacing their old diesel buses with new zero-emission buses (ZEBs), the City of Lawrence and KU will be one step closer to reaching their sustainability goals stated in their Climate Action Plan. This project timeline also aligns with the construction of the city's new transit center, which is planned to be completed by the time these buses deploy.

Due to the lack of widespread industry experience with ZEBs, there can be many challenges when transitioning to electric buses. With unrivaled expertise in clean transportation technologies, CTE bridges the gaps between operators and the industry to mitigate risk and ensure these vehicles are successfully deployed."I am thrilled to be working with CTE on our Low-No project, as our team has leveraged their past work and experience with electric buses to keep our project rolling smoothly," says Adam Weigel, Lawrence Transit and Parking Manager.

The project was made possible through FTA's Low-No Program. Lawrence Transit was among one of the many agencies that received grants from FTA to help communities invest in the next generation of bus technology. CTE commends Lawrence Transit for taking this first step towards a zero-emission future, and we look forward to working with all of the project partners to bring clean transportation technologies to Lawrence, Kansas.

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Project Partners

This project is made possible thanks to the following partners:

‍City of Lawrence / Lawrence Transit - Transit operations and bus deployment

‍Kansas University Transportation Services - Partnering with City of Lawrence to operate and maintain the battery-electric buses

‍Kansas University Facilities Planning  & Deployment - Facility and Infrastructure Design and Construction Firm

‍GILLIG - Providing five forty-foot zero emission buses

‍ChargePoint - Charging infrastructure

‍Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) - Technical support and project management

‍Federal Transit Administration (FTA) - Funding and technical support