Rhode Island Current: RIPTA cuts ribbon on state’s first in-line bus charging station

The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority unveiled the state’s first in-line electric bus charging station Tuesday at a ribbon-cutting event in Cranston. Speakers included three of the state’s four Democratic congressional delegates with U.S. Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, and Rep. Gabe Amo joining Cranston Mayor Kenneth Hopkins and Providence Mayor Brett Smiley for the event. 

The new station marks a step forward in RIPTA’s initiative to electrify bus service across Rhode Island. Since launching six months ago, RIPTA’s fleet of 14 electric buses have collectively traveled 138,000 miles and saved almost 30,000 gallons of diesel, the bus agency’s interim RIPTA CEO Chris Durand said. The electric buses serve the R-Line, RIPTA’s most-traveled route.

Funded by Volkswagen Settlement funds and the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the charging station cost $7.6 million to build and can accommodate four running buses at once, according to a RIPTA press release.

“Not only is it fast and frequent, but now it’s clean as well,” Durand said of the R-Line.