First, DOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto spoke about his agency's recommendation to bring diesel trains back to Shore Line East, telling the General Assembly's Transportation Committee on March 2 that it will allow the state to save $8.8 million a year without reducing service
This week, Deputy Commissioner Laoise King spoke in support of a bill that would repeal a provision in Connecticut law forbidding the state from procuring, purchasing or leasing "any diesel-fueled transit bus." The proposed legislation would keep in place language requiring at least 30% of state-purchased or leased buses to be zero-emissions vehicles by 2030.
"We've made steady progress towards that (30%) goal, and we are confident that we will be able to be in compliance by 2030," King said. But if the ban on the purchase of diesel buses isn't removed, she said it will be "difficult for ConnDOT to maintain existing service for the tens of thousands of Connecticut residents who rely on public transit every day."
DOT has a fleet of more than 600 buses, including 61 battery electric buses, 77 hybrid vehicles and 516 diesel buses, and procures about 60 buses each year, according to the agency's written testimony.
"The current supply of battery electric buses remains limited," King continued. "There are only two manufacturers that meet federal requirements, which has created a supply backlog of up to two years for new battery electric buses."
"Without the flexibility to purchase some additional diesel buses while the electric bus industry and infrastructure continue to develop, ConnDOT will not be able to replace aging vehicles quickly enough to maintain our current service levels," she said.
King said DOT has interpreted the law as saying that the agency cannot even buy hybrid diesel-electric buses.
In the written testimony, Eucalitto added that battery recalls have also affected DOT's fleet.
Federal grants have helped cover the costs of electric buses, which are higher than those of diesel buses, Eucalitto wrote, but DOT "anticipates a decline in available federal funds based on current federal policy priorities."
When state Rep. Tracy Marra, R-Darien, asked whether the department had considered using propane buses, DOT Public Transportation Bureau Chief Jeffrey Gonneville said the alternative fuel is usually used with smaller buses.
"For a heavy-duty transit bus, today, there is hybrid technology. There is compressed natural gas as an alternative fuel, and there is obviously your electric, but other than that, there's very limited options for our heavy-duty transit buses," Gonneville said.
On March 2, when Eucalitto faced questions from the Transportation Committee about the return of diesel trains to Shore Line East, he said the engines were recently restored to have "significantly reduced emissions."
He said policymakers must weigh the emissions from the diesel trains against the emissions from the cars that people may choose to drive instead of using the train because of decreased service.
The thinking, Eucalitto said, was that maintaining service levels "would have the least impact, versus creating a further transit death spiral of some form by cutting service somewhere else, forcing people out of the system, further cutting the system, further forcing people out of the system."
The Hartford Line and the Waterbury and Danbury branch lines also use diesel trains.
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