Dulles transit fleet to go greener

Washington Dulles International Airport’s parking shuttle fleet is going greener.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority on Thursday announced that it purchased five fully electric-powered ZX5+ buses from California-based Proterra Operating Company Inc. as well as three charging stations. Each 29-seat bus features a 450-kilowatt-hour battery that can deliver as many as 216 miles of service per charge. The buses are scheduled for delivery and use in early 2023. They will replace five older diesel buses currently in use, according to a news release.

The buses and chargers cost about $5.2 million, and about 75% of that is reimbursable under a grant from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, MWAA spokesperson Rob Yingling told Virginia Business. The new buses and chargers are a step toward meeting an airport authority goal of a more sustainable fleet. The airport authority adopted a new sustainability initiative in 2020 that includes a goal of reducing fossil fuels in its transport fleet.

“Sustainability is a top priority for the airport authority, and this purchase is an important component of our overarching sustainability plan,” Christopher Paolino, the authority’s vice president for strategy and operational performance said in a statement. “It marks a major milestone in our green-vehicle effort, a transition we’ve already begun with our smaller vehicles.”

According to its website, Proterra has sold more than 1,300 buses to more than 135 transit agencies across 43 states and Canadian provinces.