The Antelope Valley Transit Authority (AVTA), which serves 450,000 residents in the metro Los Angeles region, aims to become the first 100% electric public transit fleet in the country. It plans to take delivery of 85 BYD electric buses over the next five years.

The AVTA board has unanimously approved the purchase of a wireless charging system from Utah-based WAVE (profiled in the March/April 2016 issue of Charged). The WAVE system provides en-route charging using a pad embedded directly into the roadway, extending the fleet’s range to cover the agency’s longest rural routes.

“This is yet another important step in AVTA’s transformational push to go completely zero-emission by 2018,” said AVTA Board Chairman Marvin Crist. “The acquisition of these chargers strengthens the infrastructural foundations that will allow our zero-emission fleet to seamlessly complete any route within AVTA’s jurisdiction. The model that we are building will form a blueprint that any transit agency looking to go completely zero-emission can follow.”

MORE: WAVE wireless charging helps transit agencies save money by going electric

Source: Antelope Valley Transit Authority