Iowa City to roll out first electric buses starting Monday, hoping to reduce carbon emissions

George Shillcock, Iowa City Press-Citizen
·2 min read
An Iowa City electric bus sits outside of City Hall on Washington Street downtown. The city plans to debut four new electric buses on Monday.
An Iowa City electric bus sits outside of City Hall on Washington Street downtown. The city plans to debut four new electric buses on Monday.

Iowa City Transit plans to roll out a new fleet of electric buses next week, hoping to make a dent in carbon emissions.

The city announced Wednesday that, starting Monday, the four buses will begin operating on the Downtown Shuttle and Oakcrest routes and will eventually be piloted on all but one route – the West Iowa City route because of a low-clearance railroad bridge – this winter or in the spring.

“This addition provides the improvements needed to make transit more attractive for the community, while also helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," Transportation Director Darian Nagle-Gamm said in a city news release. “We’re really excited to move Iowa City Transit forward to the future.”

Iowa City purchased the four buses using $3.3 million in Federal Transit Administration and Iowa DOT grants. Along with several major changes to Iowa City Transit in the past year, this launch will have an immediate environmental impact.

The buses can travel more than 300 miles on a single charge and run more quietly than a diesel bus, which drastically reduces noise pollution, according to the news release.

Iowa City expects the buses to have an impact on greenhouse gas emissions. The release said 22% of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions come from public transportation, which includes city-owned cars, and the fleet of 27 diesel buses.

Ames will also be rolling out its own fleet of electric buses this year through CyRide, the city's bus system, in collaboration with Iowa State University. A news release last week says Ames expects them to be delivered in June and wants citizen feedback on the design of the bus.

Iowa City's new transit routes include 11 new or modified routes throughout the city that will go into effect August 2, 2021.
Iowa City's new transit routes include 11 new or modified routes throughout the city that will go into effect August 2, 2021.

The addition of these electric buses follows Iowa City's overhaul of the transit system in July that modified 11 bus routes and consolidated the total number of routes to 12. These changes also made bus fares and passes consistent with neighboring Coralville at no extra cost.

Senior citizens are now able to ride for free and the rate for children was reduced by 25 cents per ride.

Riders can consult a map of bus routes and bus stops by using the Transit app, which also has tools to plan trips in Iowa City. All information on Iowa City transit is available at https://www.icgov.org/city-government/departments-and-divisions/transit.

More: Could commuter rail return to the Iowa City area after 70 years? Lawmakers hope to spark renewal

George Shillcock is the Press-Citizen's local government and development reporter covering Iowa City and Johnson County. He can be reached at GShillcock@press-citizen.com and on Twitter @ShillcockGeorge

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa City expects new electric buses to help offset carbon emissions