HONOLULU — Honolulu has introduced its first bus in a series of imports that the city hopes will result in an exclusively zero emission fleet by 2035.
“Our administration set a bold goal to transform our public bus fleet to 100% renewable fuel by 2035 and we are now steps closer to achieving it,” Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said in statement on Tuesday.
The first bus is a 40-foot, zero-emission battery electric bus with a capacity of 38 people, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. It is the first of three buses funded by a grant awarded by the Federal Transit Administration.
The city Department of Transportation Services bought 17 electric buses in 2020 and expects to continue collecting shipments through at least 2021.
Honolulu’s public bus system, TheBus, operates more than 500 vehicles that transport more than 200,000 people each weekday.
The city’s transition to zero emission buses will help decrease greenhouse gas pollution while reducing Honolulu’s reliance on imported oil, local officials said.
The new buses will be decorated with a design created by Transportation Services Deputy Director Dre Kalili that was inspired by traditional Hawaiian bamboo stamping.
They will be deployed on routes based at the Kalihi-Palama Bus Facility in a few weeks, officials said.