ARVIN, Calif. (KERO) — A new bus has arrived at the Arvin Transit Center and began serving the community on Monday. Officials say this addition brings the city one step closer to completing its fully electric fleet of buses.
- Arvin City launched its new electric Dial-A-Ride bus service on Monday.
- The fleet will be complete with the arrival of one more electric bus.
- The initiative is funded by a significant grant from the Federal Transit Center.
- Arvin is the only city in the U.S. to receive this grant twice.
- The move promotes sustainable public transportation in the community.
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BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Residents of Arvin can now benefit from the city’s newest bus. According to city officials, this addition brings the city’s Transit Center one step closer to completing its fully electric fleet of buses.
Arvin’s newest dial-a-ride bus opened its doors to residents in Arvin on Monday. The zero-emission bus is 100 percent electric and will be serving seniors and community members with disabilities.
"We had the Dial-A-Ride before, but it was not electric; it was gas, so we switched from gas to electric," said Hesham Elshazly with the Arvin Transit Center.
A switch that the Transit Center says was made possible through a 2.5-million-dollar grant from the Federal Transit Administration. According to the Center, this has made Arvin the only city in the nation to be awarded this grant for two consecutive years. The Transit Center adds that by switching to fully electric units, they hope to improve air quality in the City of Arvin.
"To me, switch from diesel and gas with all the pollution we have here, that’s going to help everybody, the people to be able to breathe a little bit better," said Elshalzy.
The funds from the FTA will also help fund an additional transit bus as well as a microgrid that will be installed in the city’s parking lot.
"In case we have any power outage, we can use this to power our city here in the City of Arvin, the building and the buses, and everything," said Elshalzy.
Arvin residents can obtain free rides from the Transit Center through August 1st.
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