A pair of electric buses sit at the ready outside an industrial garage along Troxler Road that houses the rolling stock of Burlington’s Link Transit bus system.
These state-of-the-vehicles are the latest addition to the bus system’s vehicular fleet, which a company called Transdev operates and maintains on the city’s behalf.
According to Transdev, these two buses will provide some new experiences for Link Transit’s patrons when they hit the road later this week.
Among their more impressive features is an “air kneeling” system which can lower the vehicle’s chassis so that passengers can board or debark the bus at curb level with less risk of injury.
In addition to these two electric vehicles, the city had also planned to roll out five new, gas-powered buses as part of a wholesale upgrade of Link Transit’s fleet.
Last week, city officials announced that the contractor tasked with supplying these vehicles had been unable to obtain chasses built to the city’s specifications.
As a result, Burlington’s city council has decided to order another set of gas-powered buses from a different vender – at an added cost of $1,175,155.
Even so, the city has been able to use state and federal funds to cover all but a tenth of the extra expense, with the remainder coming out of the city’s financial reserves.
