Kitsap Transit awarded $18 million in federal grants for electric buses and ferries
In 2018, Kitsap Transit debuted our first electric bus, the first step in a long road toward a fully electric fleet.
Fast forward four years, and we’re on the cusp on another exciting moment: In the last two months, Kitsap Transit has been awarded millions of dollars in grants that will help us continue to build an environmentally sustainable public transit system.
In total, Kitsap Transit has been awarded more than $18 million in grants from the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Grants for Buses and Bus Facilities Program and its Passenger Ferry Grant Program. Combined with matching local dollars, these funds will be used to build zero-emission buses and ferries that will help reduce our carbon footprint in Kitsap County.
Right now, Kitsap Transit operates two electric coaches, and we’re anticipating the delivery of six more by the end of 2022. We recently placed an order for a dozen more electric buses that are expected to be delivered next year – seven for our Routed bus service, and five for our Worker/Driver program.
A $10.4 million FTA grant announced in March will allow Kitsap Transit to buy 10 more electric buses – five for Routed, five for Worker/Driver – and install charging infrastructure at our Bremerton and Poulsbo bus depots. By 2024, we hope to have a fleet of 30 battery-electric buses.
The M/V Waterman crosses Sinclair Inlet on December 8, 2021.
The future is equally as exciting on the water. In 2019, Kitsap Transit added the M/V Waterman, a hybrid-electric passenger ferry that serves our Port Orchard-Bremerton route. With a new $7.7 million FTA grant and $6.5 million in state funding from the recently passed state transportation budget, Kitsap Transit will be able to design and construct a zero-emission local foot ferry to pair with the Waterman.
Looking farther out, Kitsap Transit is wrapping up a conceptual feasibility study of a fully electric fast ferry that has also received significant federal financial support. You can read more about that project here.
The greening of the fleet isn’t all that Kitsap Transit does to be environmentally friendly. We are one of a handful of transit agencies in the nation that is certified to ISO 14001, a global standard for environmental management systems. The certification includes our bus fueling operations in Bremerton and Poulsbo, as well as our ferry fueling operations in Bremerton.
In addition, Kitsap Transit was recently awarded a grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce to install solar panels at our Charleston Base. The addition of solar panels will help reduce carbon-dioxide emissions and save money at our most energy intense bus depot.
At some point in the future, Kitsap County residents will be able to board one of two low- or no-emission ferries traveling from Port Orchard to Bremerton and catch a battery-electric bus on the other side to get to their destination without using a car. We think that’s a vision worth celebrating.
Kitsap Transit’s funding for electric vehicles to date:
2018: Kitsap Transit takes delivery of a Proterra Catalyst E2 electric bus
2019: M/V Waterman delivered to Kitsap Transit
May 2020: $3.92 million for five electric buses
August 2020: $372,910 to study the feasibility of an all-electric fast ferry
2021: Kitsap Transit puts a Gillig (model) electric bus into service
February 2022: $7.7 million to design and construct a zero-emission local foot ferry and charging infrastructure
March 2022: $10.4 million to purchase 10 electric buses and charging infrastructure