The Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) partnered with Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) for a successful award under the Federal Transit Administration’s Low or No Emission Vehicle Program (Low-No) in 2020. CTE worked with WMATA to deploy and incorporate two extended-range battery electric buses (BEBs) into the Metrobus fleet. This project was completed in conjunction with a larger deployment at WMATA that was being managed by AECOM. CTE assisted WMATA with the procurement of two 60’ battery electric transit buses from New Flyer (NF), two overhead depot chargers, and associated facility infrastructure. CTE prepared and delivered a project management plan to WMATA in February 2021.
CTE finalized the requirements analysis activities related to WMATA’s BEB deployment after updating the analysis based on WMATA’s feedback and BEB implementation strategy. The requirements analysis identified block combinations achievable by the 60’ NF BEBs being procured by WMATA.
CTE and WMATA finalized the refinement of WMATA’s BEB key performance indicators (KPIs) of interest and associated KPI reporting, dashboard visualizations, and metric definitions. CTE provided example KPI reports, sample KPI data collection sheets, and KPI monthly baseline fleet input documents.
WMATA’s two 60’ BEBs were delivered in summer 2023. This was a delay from the original schedule due to an NF recall. CTE conducted validation testing after the BEBs and chargers were commissioned to confirm specifications and route performance. The buses entered service in December 2023. CTE worked with WMATA to modify the agreement’s scope to provide technical support to WMATA in setting up and validating an internal dashboard for tracking BEB performance. This will facilitate continued tracking by WMATA of the BEB performance. This project is complete.
