OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Maine (AP) — A transit system in southern Maine has received more than $1.2 million from the federal government to purchase chargers for electric buses.
Republican Sen. Susan Collins said Biddeford-Saco-Old Orchard Beach Transit received the funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Low and No Emission Vehicle Grant Program. She said the money will allow the service to take “two more diesel buses off the road and replace them with battery-powered, carbon-neutral, and 100% sustainable buses.”
The award will help complete needed infrastructure improvements by adding a pair of fast charging stations at the Saco Transportation Center, said Rod Carpenter, interim executive director of Biddeford-Saco-Old Orchard Beach Transit.
The system received a federal grant to replace the two diesel buses with electric buses in 2019, Collins said. The charging stations are needed to allow the electric buses to remain on the road for a full day of service, she said.
