Pullman Transit future is electric

Pullman Transit envisions having an entire fleet of fully electric buses, and this week the city made its first step toward that goal.

Two 35-foot-long Gillig buses arrived Wednesday in Pullman from the Gillig plant in California. Staff is now preparing to place an order for a third bus.

Pullman Transit Director Wayne Thompson first got direction from the City Council to pursue electric buses in 2018. With the help of federal grant money paying for most of the $872,000 cost per bus, Pullman will begin sending out the new buses on routes starting in August.

“We’re excited to see how they perform for us,” he said.

The new 35-seat buses will replace two diesel buses made in the early 1990s that are well past the standard 15-year lifespan of a Pullman bus.

The most noticeable difference is the sound, or lack thereof.

When staff worker Otto Nielson fired up one of the new electric buses Friday, there was no grumbling of a diesel engine.

The beeping noise that signals when the bus is in reverse was the loudest sound that could be heard when he backed out of Pullman Transit’s garage.

Thompson said he believes the passengers and local neighborhoods will appreciate the quieter vehicles. He said staff have occasionally heard complaints from residents annoyed with the loud diesel-fueled buses driving through their neighborhoods at night.

The electric buses not only eliminate noise, but emissions and fuel costs as well.

Thompson analyzed how much Wenatchee spends on its electric buses and estimates Pullman will likely pay $4,000 a year to charge each vehicle. The annual cost to fuel up a diesel bus is $20,000 a year, he said.

Pullman’s new buses are guaranteed by the vendor to travel more than 150 miles on a full charge.The longest Pullman bus route, the “Loop Route,” travels a total 147 miles each day, Thompson said.

A full charge takes about eight hours, he said.

He said given the long-term costs of fueling and maintaining diesel buses, staff decided it could not justify continuing to buy diesel buses.

Washington state has also established a goal to have all nonemergency public fleets converted to electric vehicles in the future, Thompson said.

Pullman Transit has also installed two charging stations for the buses and its current facility can handle six more. Thompson’s other future goal is to expand the Pullman Transit facility on Guy Street and add another garage equipped with charging stations.

Nielson said staff will likely have to work out the bugs that will inevitably occur as they learn how to maintain and operate the new buses.

Yet, he is excited for the opportunity because staff can then offer critical feedback to Gillig to help improve the new technology.

“We get to be part of the vanguard,” he said.

Pullman also has seven hybrid buses that rely on electric and diesel power.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.