RJ Sangosti / Denver Post
When the engine in one of Via Mobility’s buses blew up last summer, the Boulder-based transportation service weighed whether to ditch the vehicle or replace the diesel engine.
Via did the Boulder kind of thing — it recycled the bus. And it went electric.
Now, The Hop, which circulates between downtown Boulder, the Twenty Ninth Street Mall and the University of Colorado campus, is even more noticeable for what it doesn’t do.
“It’s quiet. It has no emissions,” said Frank Bruno, VIA CEO. “And it has a great wrap on the back that says it’s Boulder’s first electric bus.”
Via Mobility Services, a nonprofit that contracts with the city of Boulder, Regional Transportation District and others to provide a range of services, wants to electrify more of its fleet. Bruno said Via decided to make the No.15 Hop electric after connecting at a conference with Lightning Systems, a Loveland company that designs and manufactures all-electric power trains for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.
Read more via The Denver Post.