These buses will be deployed at Norman Y Mineta San José International airport. The Council selected Proterra as the airport's battery-electric bus provider, citing the manufacturer's sustainability, performance and operational cost-savings excellence. It is worth noting that this purchase marks Proterra’s first airport electric bus deployment in the San Francisco Bay Area. Scheduled to be placed in service in late 2018, the buses will be designed and built in California at Proterra’s Los Angeles County manufacturing facility.
“The addition of this all-electric bus fleet reflects the airport’s continued commitment to delivering a world-class passenger experience and advancing our community’s collective sustainability goals,” commented San José Mayor Sam Liccardo. “These electric buses can help us significantly reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions, and represent a step towards our aspiration that an electric engine power every shuttle and bus on San Jose’s streets.”
With 12m passengers annually, San José currently provides on-site shuttle buses to transport passengers and luggage among the airport’s short- and long-term parking lots, consolidated rental car garage and terminals, with a fleet of compressed natural gas buses. Funded in part by a US$3.8m zero-emissions vehicle grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, the new Proterra battery-powered buses will replace these older CNG buses, resulting in the elimination 3.1m pounds of tailpipe emissions over the lifetime of these vehicles.
