River Valley Transit Adding 2 Electic Buses To Its Fleet

MIDDLETOWN, CT — On Tuesday morning, River Valley Transit, the Connecticut Department of Transportation, and state and local officials staged a news conference to announce the addition of new battery electric buses to the RVT fleet.

Middletown Mayor Ben Florsheim, River Valley Transit Executive Director Joe Comerford, Connecticut Transportation Deputy Commissioner Karen Kitsis and state Sen. Matt Lesser were among those in attendance.

River Valley Transit is deploying two new electric buses out of its headquarters in Middletown. The cost of each bus is $1.1 million, and they are 35 feet kong and and have 440 kWh of power.

When these two buses hit the streets, there will be about 50 battery electric buses operating across Connecticut. This deployment builds on the DOT's plan to transition the statewide public transportation bus fleet from diesel to zero tailpipe-emission models by 2035.

Also, the DOT and CTtransit are providing all the necessary training for staff at River Valley Transit for charging and maintaining the new buses and tracking their software and overall performance.