CLEMSON, S.C. (WSPA) – More and more electric cars are seen on the road every year, but soon you’ll see more electric buses in Clemson, thanks to a multimillion-dollar grant.
Clemson Area Transit – or CATbus – has become one of largest transportation systems in the Upstate, with routes all over Clemson, Seneca, Oconee and Greenville.
But now, they’re about to become more eco-friendly.
“We’re excited to be able to go away from our diesel buses and use the electric buses,” CATbus CEO Sammy Grant said.
Last week, the transit system was awarded $3.9 million to buy six new electric buses.
The money is coming from a $1.66 billion grant funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“We feel very blessed and excited about being awarded this grant, especially the only one in South Carolina. So, we’re very excited,” Operations manager Laura Merritt said.
CATbus said the switch to mostly electric could help their wallet. They spend up to $40,000 on diesel every month.
It also means CATbus could add even more routes.
“We would love to be able to do a lot more connectivity, we’ve talked with a lot of our neighboring cities to be able to connect with them,” Grant said.
The transit system said their goal is to reduce their carbon footprint.
“We’ll be able to get some additional infrastructure, which is charging ports and things, for these buses. So we’re excited to go away from our diesel buses and use the electric buses and enhance the planet of course and our goal of going green,” Grant said.
The city will have to wait a little while before they can go majority electric, the new buses will be here in about a year and a half.
CATbus said they will still keep a couple diesel buses, but the rest will be repurposed.
