Electric Vehicle to be On Display At TARTA Garage Wednesday
The Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority (TARTA) looks forward to a fleet that includes electric vehicles in the near future, and is preparing with an electric battery bus show-and-tell Wednesday, August 23.
ElDorado National-California (ENC) will display one of their 32-foot electric battery buses Wednesday from 10 a.m. to noon at TARTA’s Central Avenue garage (1127 W. Central Avenue, Toledo). This bus is similar to the nine total electric vehicles TARTA plans to purchase through grant funds in the near future.
“Increasing our use of electric vehicles has been in TARTA’s long-term plans, and recent grants have brought those plans closer to a reality,” said Charles Odimgbe, TARTA’s Chief Operating Officer. “We’re grateful for this opportunity to have the public get a closer look at something similar to what we plan to have on the roads of Lucas County and Rossford by the end of 2026.
“The next few years will bring in a truly new era for TARTA, the people who depend on TARTA and the people who work here. It’s going to require training for our operators and mechanics and new ways of thinking for all of us. These are the first few actions in a long process, but we are excited to be taking those steps toward a zero-emission fleet.”
As part of a larger grant to several transportation agencies in Ohio, TARTA recently received more than $9 million in funds from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for the purchase of eight electric vehicles and six electric chargers. Another grant from TMACOG (Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments) will the purchase of an additional electric bus in the near future.
The FTA grant also includes funding for a local training program, designed to help both drivers and mechanics learn the new vehicles and successfully make the transition.
