The wheels on the bus go round and round – from electricity. The first electric school buses will hit city streets this year after Mayor de Blasio signs an executive order requiring more than 20,000 on-road vehicles in New York City’s municipal fleet be plug-in electric by 2040. The order, which de Blasio will announce in his annual State of the City on Thursday, will mean every single garbage truck, ferry, ambulance, police cruiser, bus, car and vehicle owned and operated by municipal agencies will have to be fully electric.
There are 25,104 on-road vehicles in the fleet now, just 8.5% or 2,134 are electric. The city also has 5,613 off-road vehicles like carts and light towers, and about 10% or 548 of them are electric. The mayor’s office expects to see a 50% reduction in emissions from the fleet by 2025. The effort will cost $36 million next fiscal year and the city is assessing the price tag going forward.
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