Albany

The first all-electric buses will be hitting the streets of the Capital Region next summer, according to the Capital District Transportation Authority.

On Wednesday, CTDA officials approved the purchase of four such 38-seat buses from the Alabama-based New Flyer Corp. under a $3.9 million contract, said CDTA CEO Carm Basile.

The buses will be delivered in early summer, and after a preparation period should be put into service shortly after that, Basil said.

"We will not be pinpointing the new buses on one or two routes, but instead on a variety of routes to determine how they perform under varying conditions," he said.

The buses have a projected range of up to 200 miles between charges, but that can vary based on type of terrain and temperature conditions.

Once on the road, the buses will be specially marked to designate them as all electric, Basile said. Passengers aboard such buses will also notice a lack of any engine noise.

Currently, CDTA runs a fleet of about 300 diesel and diesel-electric hybrid buses.

Each new electric bus will be powered by a roof-mounted battery system that can produce up to 480 KWh (kilowatt hours) and uses a direct drive system that eliminates the need for a transmission. Charging equipment will be installed at the CDTA headquarters at 110 Watervliet Avenue.

Each bus costs about $800,000, which is about $250,000 more than diesel-powered buses currently used by CDTA.

The buses are being paid for by a $959,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration, $1.4 million from a settlement reached with automaker Volkswagen over diesel emissions misreporting, $250,000 from the state Legislature, and $1.3 million from CDTA funds for vehicle replacement.

New Flyer buses are already deployed in Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Winnipeg, Manitoba.