UPDATE: On April 12, TCAT’s Board of Directors approved the purchase five new diesel buses.
Original story (April 1):
ITHACA, N.Y. — Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit (TCAT) plans to acquire five new diesel buses in a move that goes against the transit operator’s plans to have an “emissions-free” bus fleet by 2035.
But TCAT officials said the acquisitions will improve service and reliability for riders.
For years, TCAT has contended with staffing shortages, repair bottlenecks, and an aging fleet of buses that has resulted in inconsistent transit service. Overall service has drastically declined from what was provided prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
TCAT Acting General Manager Matt Rosenbloom-Jones said the electric buses have underperformed in Ithaca’s cold winter months and steep hills. They have also become near impossible to repair, contributing to the challenges the transit agency has faced.
“The most important thing for us right now is to have reliable, stable service where someone who’s waiting for a bus comes at the time that it says it’s going to,” Rosenbloom-Jones added. “When we fail to do that, people resort to Ubers, Lyfts, personal automobiles, which are all options that are worse for the environment.”
TCAT’s electric buses were manufactured by Proterra, which declared bankruptcy in August 2023 and has since been purchased by Phoenix Motorcars. Rosenbloom-Jones said that getting parts and support from Proterra was always challenging even when they were in business, but after the company declared bankruptcy, he said there was a period of time when it became impossible to get parts.
Rosenbloom-Jones said in an interview that TCAT mechanics discovered a crack in the fiber-glass body of one of the Proterra buses on March 13. Rosenbloom-Jones said that a Proterra bus was on a lift when TCAT mechanics saw that an axle was separating from the body of the bus. TCAT is in communication with Phoenix Motorcars about the electric buses, but Rosenbloom-Jones said that all eight of TCAT’s Proterra buses are off the road until safety concerns are addressed.
“Until we know what’s going on, they’re out of service,” Rosenbloom-Jones said.
Each of the Proterra buses cost about $1 million, and were paid for with the support of a $2.3 million grant.
TCAT’s Board of Directors discussed plans to purchase five 40-foot diesel buses from bus manufacturer Gillig for around $2.5 million on Thursday. Rosenbloom-Jones said the purchase will be entirely covered by state funds earmarked for TCAT. The buses will replace five diesel buses that are about 12 years old. Rosenbloom-Jones said he expects the new Gillig buses to last about 12 years.
TCAT Board of Directors member and Tompkins County Legislator Shawna Black said Thursday, “Right now, I think we need to invest in something that’s tried and true. And that’s going back to the diesel buses.”
“We need to get through our current travails in order to survive and thrive, and then we can move forward with our commitment for an all-electric fleet. But that time is not here yet and I hope the community will understand,” TCAT Board of Directors Chair and Tompkins County Legislator Deborah Dawson said Thursday.
Brandon Chamblee, a bus driver and the TCAT-unit chairman of United Auto Workers Local 2300, said, “I am absolutely thrilled they got the diesel buses. I’m not anti-the idea of possibly going fully electric. I just know now’s not it. We’re not there.”
The board did not approve the purchase of new buses Thursday. A vote is expected to take place at a future meeting. TCAT management expects the buses to take eight to 12 months to arrive in Ithaca from the time they are ordered.
Update: TCAT Acting General Manager Matt Rosenbloom-Jones originally said that mechanics at TCAT discovered the axle had separated from the body of a Proterra bus on March 14. TCAT clarified that the damage was discovered on March 13.