Sharp-eyed social media users may have noticed Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday shared a photo of herself stepping off what looks like a Long Beach Transit bus with the comment, “Electric buses are the future of public transportation.”
It was indeed an LB Transit bus posted on X (formerly Twitter), although the photo wasn’t taken in Long Beach. But the future has apparently already arrived here: The local transit agency’s fleet includes 44 battery electric buses.
The picture of Harris was actually from February, when the veep toured a St. Cloud, Minn., facility where the company New Flyer makes electric buses, including some purchased by Long Beach.
Long Beach Transit first added 10 electric buses to its fleet in 2016 and has recently ramped up significantly, acquiring another 34 e-buses since 2022. While it hasn’t yet reached the goal of zero emissions, the agency’s 250-bus fleet is 100% powered by alternative fuels, Long Beach Transit spokesperson Arantxa Chavarria said.
In addition to the battery electric buses, LB Transit carries riders in CNG (compressed natural gas) and hybrid buses, Chavarria said.
The agency has pledged to reach zero emissions by 2035, and since it’s been paying for e-buses with state and federal grants, the Biden administration’s announcement in June of nearly $1.7 billion in funding for cleaner buses was undoubtedly good news.