Transit bus OEM Gillig has delivered six Battery Electric buses to the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA), which serves Charged’s home city of St Petersburg, Florida—the first deliveries under a 5-year contract with Gillig for 62 Battery Electric buses.

Each of the 40-foot buses sports 686 kWh of onboard energy storage. PSTA’s investment also includes 15 ChargePoint chargers, purchased through Gillig’s Charging Solutions team.

PSTA already operates 88 Gillig Hybrid buses. The new e-buses are built on the same Low-Floor platform. They will replace legacy diesel models that are aging out of the PSTA fleet. The agency estimates they will save approximately 11 million gallons of diesel fuel over their lifetime.

“For over three decades, our collaboration with Gillig has been instrumental in offering safe, reliable, and now zero-emissions sustainable transit options to our community,” said PSTA CEO Brad Miller. “With the launch of Gillig’s Battery Electric buses, we’re taking a major step in our ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship.”

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority operates 42 bus routes, has a fleet of 210 vehicles, and provides more than 10.4 million rides per year. PSTA deployed its first electric buses (from Gillig rival BYD) in 2018. In 2023, the agency won an Outstanding Agency of the Year award from the American Public Transit Association.

The sooner the 62 Gillig e-buses hit the streets, the better. Florida state legislators are moving to restructure the board that governs PSTA, to give the state government more direct control. Some public transit advocates fear that this will result in a scaling-back of the agency’s electrification plans.

Source: Gillig