{"id":2452442,"date":"2019-12-19T23:25:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-20T06:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=317998"},"modified":"2019-12-21T12:03:01","modified_gmt":"2019-12-21T19:03:01","slug":"minimal-bumps-encountered-in-aspens-electric-bus-roll-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/minimal-bumps-encountered-in-aspens-electric-bus-roll-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Minimal bumps encountered in Aspen\u2019s electric bus roll-out"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"5.7785234899329\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-317998-419\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/electricbuses-atd-122019-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/electricbuses-atd-122019-1-1024x575.jpg\" data-sub-html=\" | \" class=\"h-100\">\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/electricbuses-atd-122019-1-1024x575.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/electricbuses-atd-122019-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/electricbuses-atd-122019-1-1-768x1024.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"David Krause \/ The Aspen Times | One of RFTA's electric buses makes the local run from Snowmass to Aspen on Thursday morning.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-1.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"8\">\n<p><strong>One of RFTA&#8217;s electric buses makes the local run from Snowmass to Aspen on Thursday morning.<\/strong><br \/>David Krause \/ The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/12\/electricbuses-atd-122019-1-1-768x1024.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"One of RFTA's electric buses makes the local run from Snowmass to Aspen on Thursday morning.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/minimal-bumps-encountered-in-aspens-electric-bus-roll-out\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/minimal-bumps-encountered-in-aspens-electric-bus-roll-out\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText DropCap\">With the exception of one snowy day earlier this month, the new multimillion-dollar electric buses that rolled out in the upper valley Dec. 3 are proving their worth, according to transportation officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cYou get the specs on paper but until you get them up here you don\u2019t know,\u201d said John Kruger, the city of Aspen\u2019s director of transportation. \u201cI think we made the right decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The city has four of the battery-powered, electric buses running on in-town routes and the <a id=\"N0x10b0e70N0x10e1ff0:N0x10b0e70N0x10caf58\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rfta.com\/new-flyer-service-to-buttermilk-and-aspen-highlands\/\">Roaring Fork Transportation Authority<\/a> is using the other four up and down the valley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">They have a range of around 130 miles and go for about 10 hours and still have 45% of battery power, said Kurt Ravenschlag, RFTA\u2019s chief operating officer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">They\u2019ve been tweaking with the settings on the buses since they arrived this summer and fall, and with some more changes, Ravenschlag estimated that they\u2019ll go as far 200 miles before needing a charge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThese buses are highly technical; they are basically computers,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve programmed them for our operating environment and they are exceeding our expectations, mostly with the range.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Some riders reported that the electric bus on the Hunter Creek route was sliding around and being late shortly after it was introduced.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Ravenschlag said it\u2019s a little dicey near the Park Avenue stop because it\u2019s icy all winter and there was a day where it had snowed so much that all buses were having issues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt was a day that Aspen is as worse as it gets,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we aren\u2019t seeing any other issues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">These particular buses, called the <a id=\"N0x10b0e70N0x10e2050:N0x10b0e70N0x10cb3d8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/cleaner-quieter-rfta-buses-will-go-into-service-around-aspen-around-thanksgiving\/\">New Flyer<\/a> and manufactured in Minnesota, have not been tested in mountainous environments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s a pilot program. We\u2019re learning and making tweaks and RFTA is accumulating information as they go,\u201d Krueger said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The buses, which cost about $1 million each, take about three hours to charge at RFTA\u2019s maintenance facility near the airport to get between a 85% to 90% charge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The buses, charging stations and related infrastructure cost $9.2 million.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">About $4.2 million of the expense was covered by federal and state transportation grants. RFTA, Aspen, Snowmass Village and Pitkin County teamed to provide the other $5 million. Holy Cross Energy worked with RFTA to install sufficient bus-charging infrastructure, establish a cheaper utility rate for strategic time-of-day charging and is helping the bus agency assess renewable energy options.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The buses have zero emissions at the tail pipe, lower operating costs, an automated passenger information system and automated vehicle location system.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Local elected officials funded the program to reduce noise and the bus system\u2019s carbon footprint.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Krueger said the city\u2019s goal is to have 30% of its transportation fleet electrified in the next decade.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">With just a couple of weeks in service, drivers are still getting a handle on how the New Flyers operate in different conditions. A driver on a recent route apologized after the bus lurched hard as it came to a complete stop, saying he was still \u201cworking on that final stop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe\u2019ll move the vehicles around based on conditions,\u201d Ravenschlag said. \u201cThese are $1 million buses and no one wants to be the first one to put a dent in them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:csackariason@aspentimes.com\">csackariason@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/minimal-bumps-encountered-in-aspens-electric-bus-roll-out\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of RFTA&#8217;s electric buses makes the local run from Snowmass to Aspen on Thursday morning.David Krause \/ The Aspen Times Show CaptionsHide Captions With the exception of one snowy day earlier this month, the new multimillion-dollar electric buses that rolled out in the upper valley Dec. 3 are proving their worth, according to transportation [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2452442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-19 01:23:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2452442"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2452487,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2452442\/revisions\/2452487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2452442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2452442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2452442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}