Port Townsend’s Haines Place Park and Ride hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Dec. 6 to officially celebrate Jefferson Transit Authority’s first electric bus.

Jefferson Transit added a 35-foot-long 2023 Gillig low-floor battery electric bus to its fixed-route service back in early November, and its community partners at the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce joined with them to celebrate the newest addition to JTA’s fleet a month later, complete with Jefferson County District 1 Commissioner Kate Dean cutting the ribbon.

Jefferson Transit partnered with Jefferson County PUD 1 to install a new 500 kilovolt-amp transformer to support the charging infrastructure at the Four Corners Road bus yard, as a ChargePoint CPE250 charger was ordered with the electric bus, and its installation was completed in August.

Jefferson Transit issued a public statement prior to the ribbon-cutting event, describing the electric bus as a “significant step” toward lowering greenhouse gas emissions, as well as “creating a more environmentally friendly” transit system in East Jefferson County.

Indeed, not only did Jefferson Transit General Manager Nicole Gauthier express her enthusiasm on behalf of her agency for commencing “the transition towards a zero emissions fleet,” but she also explained to The Leader that, over the next few months, JTA staff will be collecting data about how the electric bus is performing, as well as how its costs compare to a bio-diesel bus, since being put into regular service in November.

Gauthier said that this zero-emission initiative is a core component of the long-range plan that Jefferson Transit completed in 2022.

“Jefferson Transit has been actively pursuing grant funding opportunities, and in 2024 plans to place an order for two additional battery electric buses,” Gauthier said.

Gauthier explained that Jefferson Transit utilized grant funding for the purchase of both the electric bus and the charging infrastructure at Four Corners Road, and estimated that the project to date — including the costs of the bus, the consultants and the infrastructure — amounts to approximately $1.3 million.

Given that the electric bus replaced an existing bio-diesel bus, it has not added to Jefferson Transit’s service, nor has it (or will it) be assigned to a specific route within the JTA.

“It will be a slow process to convert the entire fleet to a zero-emissions fleet,” Gauthier said. “But one of the most important things that community members should know about this bus and all buses, is that, even if they’re riding on a bio-diesel bus, they’re still lowering their carbon footprint, and reducing the community's overall vehicle miles traveled. Making a habit of swapping personal vehicle trips for public transit trips is essential for lowering the county's greenhouse gas emissions.”

Gauthier also touted the electric bus as enhancing the public transit experience for riders and the general populace alike, “with a quiet operation and no tailpipe emissions,” and thereby underscoring Jefferson Transit’s position “as a county leader” in embracing zero-emission transportation, as well as in “investing in the future of sustainable transportation” for all county residents.

“Jefferson Transit looks forward to the positive impact this transition will have on the community and the environment,” Gauthier said. “And it would not have been possible for us to debut the first battery electric bus on the Olympic Peninsula without the support of Jefferson PUD, which supported our agency and engineering consultant when designing and installing the electrical infrastructure.”

Along with ordering two more electric buses, Gauthier expects 2024 to bring the installation of inductive charging at Four Corners Road, as well as electric bus charging as part of redesigning Haines Place Park and Ride.