Seneca getting ready for New Electric Buses

An update was given on the new all-electric buses to the Seneca City Council at their meeting Tuesday night.  Seneca Mayor Dan Alexander gives details.  “There is a lot going on now with the Proterra buses.  There is a lot of prep work that has to be done to be able to operate them when they come here, so this past weekend there were several things that were started.  In the next several weeks, there is a lot of work going on with the Proterra buses.  The deadline has been pushed back a little bit and it looks like it will be November or December when we get the buses in to the city.  The contract had a date that they should arrive and the Seneca City Council voted to extend the contract.  One of the buses has already been completed and there are three more that are in construction now to be completed and put together.  Everything is coming together very well.  We still have some things here that we have to do.  There were some modifications there that they had to do with the buses and all that is being taken care of now.” Super charging stations for the buses are being installed at two locations in the city, adds Mayor Alexander.  “Two of the sites where the super chargers are going, one is at the bottom of the park near the depot on Railroad Street, so they have started on that and the contract has been awarded to do all the work there.  The other site is near the hospital and they are getting ready to start construction there.  Those sites will be where those big units will be.  It is actually something that the bus drives under, everything is computer operated and it will charge the buses up in about seven-minutes.  It will have a full charge and that will go about 80-90 miles.  It is pretty amazing technology and we are looking forward to seeing what happens next year and what it actually does.  We feel like lots of people will come to see what we have to offer here and see Proterra, a local company in Greenville that is putting out the buses, not only making them here but all over the world.” The Seneca City Council also renewed some contracts with the South Carolina Department of Transportation to operate the public transit system, explains Mayor Alexander.  “We had representatives from DOT and the funding contracts all that was voted on and taken care of at the meeting.  We have to do that every year to reinstate that contract. It is going to be very exciting to see the buses come here.  We are going to be the first city in the nation to offer all-electric public transit.  The entire fleet and the entire route that Seneca has will be operated by electric buses, so that is going to be pretty neat.” Zorn was hired by the city to serve as the contractor for the prep work for the all-electric buses.  Work is also being done at the former Propex building where the buses will be housed and maintained.