PARK CITY – City leaders have cut the ribbon on their new all-electric bus fleet, which they call the Electric Xpress.
The fleet will drive between Kimball Junction and the heart of Park City, running a new bus every ten minutes through the route. Transit and Public Works Director Blake Fonnesbeck says the buses could not only help the air clean, but, they hope the new line of vehicles will help ease traffic. He adds that traffic can become “bumper-to-bumper” during the ski season.
“On SR 248 alone, you can wait up to 20 minutes in an area that’s about a two-mile stretch. On 224, you can have backups where you wait two, three, four lights to get through,” Fonnesbeck says. However, their drivers will be able to get around it. “We’re going to be allowed an agreement with UDOT to be able to drive on the shoulders.”
Each bus costs roughly 19 cents a mile to operate, and there are four charging stations, one for every stop. Fonnesbeck says the batteries can charge surprisingly quick. “This is a quick charge system,” he says. “So, when they pull into the charge [station], they can go from 50 percent to 100 percent in about five minutes.”