RIPTA is in the pre-application process of redeveloping an electric charging station for new transit vehicles on Broad Street and Montgomery Avenue. The agency would like to build four in-line charging bays for electric buses, which would be the first in-line chargers in the state.

RIPTA first invested in electric buses in 2018 as a step toward improving air quality in Rhode Island. According to RIPTA’s website, about 40 percent of RI’s greenhouse gas emissions are from transportation, and come from heavy duty vehicles such as rigs, construction vehicles and buses. In fall of 2019, RIPTA leased three Proterra 440 kWh (kilowatt hour) battery-electric buses for its piloting program.

“Based on the data collected and analyzed from these vehicles, it has proven to be instrumental in guiding the Authority in deploying its first-ever fully electric fleet along the R-Line,” said Raposo Perry, RIPTA’s senior marketing coordinator.

RIPTA owns the proposed redevelopment site, which is zoned as C-3 General Business, and Raposo Perry said it is a good location for an in-line charge station for buses because Broad/Montgomery is the an endpoint of RIPTA’s R-Line which runs from Pawtucket to Cranston. Buses already layover in between trips and implementing the charging stations on the existing route would eliminate buses traveling to another site to recharge their batteries.

Raposo Perry said their current pilot has shown that fluctuations in temperature affect the range of the vehicles. 

“We hope to refine these impacts further as part of this pilot program,” Raposo Perry said.

While the charge on electric buses varies, RIPTA estimates that an electric bus will have the capacity to make two round trips at 32 miles in total.

The redevelopment project came before Cranston’s Development Plan Review Committee at their March 16 meeting, and City Planning Director Jason Pezzullo said the committee’s response for the project was positive.

“It really is an improvement to the lot now,” said Pezzullo.

In addition to the in-line chargers, RIPTA plans to redevelop an asphalt paved parking lot to be utilized by the adjacent God’s Family Church and a gravel surfaced parking lot on the western extent of the project. Pezzullo said the gravel lot is undeveloped and not very formalized; the new project would clean up the parking lot and allow for more landscaping.

Pezzullo mentioned that the in-line charging stations would be used to top off the electric buses’ charges, which could take 10 to 15 minutes; no votes were taken at the meeting.

Raposo Perry said RIPTA has been working on this project for the past year, and the construction schedule is set for fall 2022, as long as there are no supply chain issues.

Overall, the construction cost of the project in Cranston would cost RIPTA $6,737,000.