Will Stevenson
PEORIA, Ill. – You will soon be able to see — and possibly ride on — three new, more environmentally-friendly CityLink buses.
CityLink Wednesday unveiled three new battery-powered electric buses, bought with a combination of federal funds and money from the Edwards Coal Plant lawsuit settlement fund.
“We’ve got a total of 53 fixed-route vehicles — what I call the “big bus,” said Doug Roelfs, CityLink General Manager. “We’ve also got 35 para-transit vans. They’ll all need to be replaced and it will be interesting to see what direction we go after we try out these battery-electrics.”
Each of the three buses cost $1 million. They’ll be able to be charged at special stations inside the CityLink garages.
U.S. Rep. Darin LaHood is co-chair of a House caucus devoted to buses.
“We advocate on behalf of buses, clean-burning buses, low-emission buses or no-emission buses, ” said LaHood (R-Dunlap). “This is part of the result of that: new buses that are coming to Peoria.”
LaHood, Rep. Cheri Bustos (D-East Moline), Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), and others were on hand for the unveiling and a special ribbon-cutting — done by one of the new buses.
CityLink officials say in addition to the environmental benefits, the material they’re made from may help prevent serious damage in the event of an accident.
The hope, officials say, would be to replace all 53 fixed-route buses over time, and as money becomes available.
