Date:May 6th, 2021

To:Patrick Foye

Chairman and CEO of the MTA

From: Erick Martinez, Freshman at City College of New York

Subject: Proposal for Electric and More Aerodynamic Buses

Purpose

For the production of more electric buses and making them more aerodynamic, I want to focus on making the ride for passengers more comfortable by improving the body shape of it. With my lab report and memo I have discussed how aerodynamics improves a vehicle’s efficiency and how electrical buses work better compared to diesel buses. Applying this to our transportation will allow us to produce less drag which allows us to use less energy and have faster transportation.

Summary

On April 27th, 2021 Nicholas G. Otte asked me to write a proposal for something that we would like to see changed or improved. I chose to work on our MTA system. One of the main reasons as to why people can easily travel is thanks to the transit system. I specifically focused on buses only. I want to change them into electrical vehicles and make them more aerodynamic to improve our society.

Currently the MTA are slowly pushing away from diesel buses and are currently working with hybrid vehicles. I want to propose a plan to make a switch to electric. Currently we are operating with 25 fully electric buses in our city with over 55% of our bus fleet running on diesel fuel and another portion running as hybrid (Guse, 2021). Many countries have made the switch and have seen an improvement in the reduction of pollution and also the health of their people. With air pollution being a key factor to pollution in our city electric vehicles will produce no combustion.

New York City would be able to save much more money as electric vehicles don’t require much maintenance since they are dealing with less parts to power their engine. While electric buses may be expensive when purchasing in the long run, they will cost less to keep running. Looking at a 12 year run between regular buses and electrical buses, the city will be able to save $1.4 million when running with electrical busses (Aber, 2016). With this, we may see a reduction in fare rides in our buses so more people will be able to commute around our city using public transportation.

Introduction

The city that never sleeps will never stop being loud and some people can handle it while others find it as a bother. Loud vehicles always pass by especially if you live near bus routes or a bus stop. I want to propose a new improvement to the MTA that can align with the green new deal.

The green new deal was passed in 2019 to improve infrastructure and our environment to combat climate change (Ocasio-Cortez, 2019). Hybrid buses are currently in use and while buses may produce less combustion into the air they are still using fuel which as we are seeing as of now can be expensive. I want to introduce the benefits of switching to electric vehicles.

New York City has a big pollution problem. Air pollution is New York’s leading threat in our residents health and safety. During 2005 through 2007 testing was done to see the health impacts from vehicle combustion to our city residents. They have recorded 5,970 related visits regarding the pollution that has affected people with and without asthma and people under and over 18 years of age. (New York Department of Health and Hygiene). Air pollution has been a common issue that our city has been trying to get away from. Visits regarding one’s health about air pollution only have increased through recent years and our environment hasn’t improved as much. The time for change is now before time is no longer in our favor.

With pollution we spend more money on providing care for our residents rather than looking for ways to eliminate the cause of these issues. When switching to an electrical bus we would be able to save $1.28 million on healthecare and carbon cost for our people. When the cost of fuel comes into play we would be able to save around $400,000 and $125,000 on maintenance over time (Maloney, 2019).

Proposed Task

With the approval of the CEO of MTA and Gov. Cuomo I could proceed with my proposal in reinventing our MTA bus system. It would meet the city’s plan to have a full electric bus fleet by 2040. These tasks would carry out in 4 steps:

1. Retiring buses nearing or at 15 years of service

MTA buses usually stay in service for about 12-15 years and are scrapped. Their parts are sold off or recycled in a facility in Eastchester. ( Martinez, Spectrum News) The city is always changing and we have to keep moving with the city. The buses will change to electric buses as hybrid and diesel buses go out of service so there will be a smooth transition throughout the MTA.

2. Set Charging Stations inside MTA Depots

For now Electric buses have a range of 50-90 miles on one charge. But there are factors that do come into play like weather, traffic, and how many passengers there are on the buses (Krisel).

3. Replace with New Electric Vehicles

With new vendors like Proterra and New Flyer would help produce our first few electric buses for overnight and day routes which would be tested over the 3 year period (MTA). Along the M60 bus route going from the LaGuardia airport to West 106th street in Manhattan electric buses have already been placed to foresee further testing with electric buses (Krisel).

4. Lower MTA Fare

With electric buses the MTA would be using less money to maintain their condition compared to regular hybrid/fuel buses. A reduction in the MTA would result in more people using the MTA which will reduce the amount of people who will use their cars. Less cars on the road would result not only in less combustion in the air but also less traffic to help buses get people on time to their locations.

Schedule

Task 1 is currently underway with the MTA currently having 25 electrical buses that are fully functioning and running on bus routes as of November of 2020 (Martinez). Bus depots with charging stations are set along Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn where electrical buses are running through. They will expand through the following years and be massly spread throughout the city starting 2030 with accomplishing our goal of having a full transformation by 2040. The reduction of fares will go into effect around 2038 nearing completion of the electrical bus plan.

Experience

I lived in NYC all my life and have taken the MTA for multiple trips. I know what it is like to take in the emission of the buses and trains. Hearing them pass by and waking me up from my sleep at times when they passed by.

Budget

Table 1: Alternative – Lifetime Cost of Electric Bus vs. Diesel Bus Including Healthcare Cost and Cost of Carbon

Table 2: Calculations of CO2e Emissions for CO2, CH4, N20 For Current Buses

Table 3: Calculation of CO2e Emissions for CO2, CH4, N20 for Electric Buses

Table 4: Financial Analysis between Electrical Buses and Current Buses

References

Maloney, Peter. “Electric Buses for Mass Transit Seen as Cost Effective.” Electric Buses for Mass Transit Seen as Cost Effective | American Public Power Association, 17 Oct. 2019, www.publicpower.org/periodical/article/electric-buses-mass-transit-seen-cost-effe ctive.

Aber, Judah. “Electric Bus Analysis for New York City Transit.” Electricschoolbuscampaign.org, Electricschoolbuscampaign.org, May 2016, electricschoolbuscampaign.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Electric-Bus-Analysi s-for-NYC-Transit.pdf.

Ocasio-Cortez, Alexandria. “Recognizing the Duty of the Federal Government to Create a Green New Dea.” Congress.gov, 7 Feb. 2019, www.congress.gov/116/bills/hres109/BILLS-116hres109ih.pdf.

Matte, Thomas. “Air Pollution and the Health of New Yorkers.” NYC.gov, 2007, www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/eode/eode-air-quality-impact.pdf.

Guse, Clayton. “Please Enable Cookies.” StackPath, 27 Apr. 2021, www.masstransitmag.com/bus/vehicles/hybrid-hydrogen-electric-vehicles/news/2 1220212/ny-mta-plans-to-only-buy-electric-buses-come-2028-as-officials-map-gr eener-future-for-nyc-transit.