This week's staff report presentation confirms that J Line BRT electrification is not going to meet its initial project date of completion this month. The report states that Metro "has identified an optimum charging strategy" for the J Line - with a $50 million price tag, on the agenda for board approval this month. Also, Metro is currently testing five (of 60 ordered) 40-foot electric buses manufactured by BYD, with "production to start upon proof of design."
Because the earlier pilots slipped with no new electric bus procurement on deck, the overall electrification timeline is slipping. The 2030 end date remains, but the ramping up is expected to occur more steeply. In 2017, Metro had planed to have 2,000 buses (80 percent of the fleet) electric by 2028. The agency now projects only 1,500 by 2028.
Metro now anticipates that full electrification will cost $3.5 billion dollars. Metro's staff report states that "Over a 10-year period [note that this would already delay completion two years, pushing it back to 2032], this is an average of $350 million per year. In recent years Metro’s bus capital expenditures have averaged approximately $190 million. Therefore, Metro will need to identify funding sources to address the gap of approximately $160 million per year."
To catch up to its schedule, Metro expects to "continue to pursue competitive grants [and] identify additional funding sources."
Metro is already installing and testing on-bus cameras. Soon comes outreach, then warning tickets. Wilshire/5th/6th and La Brea will be the first bus routes in the bus lane enforcement program.