On the steps of City Hall last week, City staff members were joined by state and local officials, transportation agency staff, and sustainability partners to celebrate the pre-launch rollout and ribbon cutting of CityBus’ four new all-electric buses. These buses continue the City’s efforts to achieve an all-electric fleet by 2040. The new electric buses were manufactured by Proterra and are powered by Sonoma Clean Power’s EverGreen program, providing 100% locally generated, renewable clean energy from the Geysers geothermal power plant and local solar projects. 

The buses were funded by two competitive grant awards totaling $3 million from the Federal Transit Administration’s Buses and Bus Facilities grant program and matching funds from the state Transportation Development Act.  They will be charged overnight at a new charging station at the Municipal Services Center developed in partnership with the PG&E EV Fleet Program. The four new electric buses are expected to roll into circulation by the end of the month.

Public transit is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions nationwide. This is why transitioning to an all-electric fleet by 2040 is important to reducing our GHG production. Fortunately, the additional state and federal funding Santa Rosa Transit has received to date will enable CityBus to transition over half its fleet to electric buses by 2025.  Five additional electric buses will be on order as of January 2023, with another six buses to be ordered in 2024.

The City of Santa Rosa has made long-term commitments to climate action, with the passage of the 2011 Climate Action Plan, early participation in Sonoma Clean Power and adoption of Sonoma Clean Power’s EverGreen program, and the 2020 Declaration of Climate Emergency committing the city to ongoing climate action work. 

The launch of our electric buses opens another phase in the city’s commitment to greenhouse gas reduction. Providing a network of transportation options that reduce our greenhouse gas emissions will help us meet our ambitious climate goals to reach a carbon neutral footprint by 2030.

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Visit Santa Rosa CityBus EV Fleet for more details