Johns Hopkins University (JHU) will begin rolling out its electric buses in early 2025, thanks to a $1.5 million grant from the Maryland Energy Administration.
The new buses running along the Homewood-Peabody-JHMI route will be all-electric and fully accessible, helping the university meet the transportation and mobility goals of its “Climate Action and Sustainability Plan”. The first five buses replacing the university’s diesel fleet will cost approximately $5.5 million.
Each bus will earn a $40,000 tax rebate from federal Inflation Reduction Act incentives. An additional five buses should be added to the fleet by early 2027, and by 2030, all newly purchased university vehicles will be electric.
JHU currently runs 12 diesel buses along the Homewood-Peabody-JHMI route — its most visible. It carries more than 3,000 riders per weekday. Replacing the fleet with 10 all-electric buses will eliminate 741 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the air each year.
Since transportation accounts for 25% of Baltimore’s greenhouse gas emissions, reducing them is a core aspect of JHU’s commitment to action on climate and environmental justice.
The buses will arrive in November, so that they may undergo the necessary processes of inspections, securing insurance, creating charging stations, and training drivers on the new vehicles in time for an early 2025 roll-out.
Up to 33 riders will be able to be seated around the perimeter of the bus facing the center, and up to 60 people can ride when some stand. The buses have mechanical lifts to give riders in wheelchairs easy access to the shuttle, and once inside, they will be able to use a self-operating locking system to hold their wheelchair in place when the bus is in motion.
The route runs from 6 a.m. – 12:30 a.m. on weekdays and has limited weekend service.
The JHU transportation team has worked closely with its counterparts in Baltimore City, which has a pilot program with electric buses, and at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, where they have an electric bus program up and running. The introduction of the new electric shuttle buses at JHU are the culmination of years of planning on the part of Greg Smith, director of transportation services, and his team.
