Telluride Daily Planet - SMART Going Electric? Transit authority to conduct feasibility study.
The San Miguel Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) is looking to do the electric slide, or has an electric eye, if you're a Judas Priest fan. That is to say, the local transit authority is looking to complete a electric bus feasibility study. It’s the continuation of a discussion that has mulled the transition to an all-electric fleet, but whether it’s financially viable, given the long-term impacts of such a move, needs to be explored.
The SMART Board unanimously approved an agreement with the nonprofit Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE), which will complete the study, at its virtual Thursday regular meeting. SMART put out a request for proposals in late May and received five bids, which SMART Executive Director David Averill considered “fairly competitive in my estimation.” “They were all really great,” he added.
The study will cost $44,000. A $35,200 Federal Transit Administration grant through CDOT will pay for a majority of the study, with SMART covering the remaining $8,800. Averill explained the funding mechanism was also used to complete SMART’s strategic operating plan last year.
