The Tulane Green Wave is taking on a new wrinkle as the university is purchasing a number of electric shuttle buses to service its routes between the main campus and other downtown campus sites.
Tulane has been awarded $737,500 by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
Tulane will purchase five Grande West Vicinity transit buses with electric vehicle (EV) technology and install five private charging stations to support them.
During the three-year project, Tulane staff will collect and analyze data on the operating performance and costs of the EV shuttle buses, with the goal of sharing Tulane’s experience with fleet managers in the New Orleans region and at other universities.
“Working with our bus provider, Alliance Bus Group, we had identified the Vicinity electric shuttle bus as the most promising model for our next purchase,” said Brian Lowe, director of Tulane Transportation and Parking. “The DOE funding gives us support to move forward now.”
The project is a collaboration between Tulane University Campus Services and the Tulane ByWater Institute, which advances applied, interdisciplinary research and community engagement initiatives around coastal resilience and the urban environment, and local partners Alliance Bus Group, Entergy and the Southeast Louisiana Clean Fuel Partnership.