Sonoma County Transit’s route 67 in Healdsburg, a free bus route that loops around the city, is now operating with an all-electric shuttle bus.
The electric shuttle was put into service on Monday, Aug. 9.
According to Bryan Albee of Sonoma County Transit, the electric shuttle has a range of 150 miles. Driving the route — which operates Monday through Saturday — amounts to 119 miles and uses only 10% of the battery to get from the bus lot in Santa Rosa to Healdsburg.
The shuttle was manufactured by the same company that built Recology Sonoma-Marin’s electric garbage truck, which went into service in Healdsburg a few weeks ago.
“This has been a long conversation between Sonoma County Transit, the Regional Climate Protection Authority (RCPA) and the city of Healdsburg with the goal that we would be able to transition our shuttle to electric as soon as possible,” said Healdsburg City Councilmember Ariel Kelley, who represents Healdsburg on the Sonoma County Transportation Authority Board of Directors and the RCPA.
She said Sonoma County Transit has been working to get electric shuttle buses rather than standard commuter buses.
“They were able to receive three shuttles that are electric. They did an initial test a couple weeks ago to determine if the battery would be sufficient to complete the route or if they would need to install additional charging infrastructure and it turned out that the test went really well. They are implementing this shuttle six months before the scheduled implementation,” Kelley said.
Healdsburg resident Mark McMullen rode the new electric shuttle on its debut day and said it was a smooth ride.
McMullen caught the shuttle near Parkland Farms and rode it downtown to the Safeway. He said he likes to ride route 67 from time to time to run errands or to check his mail at the UPS store.
Kelley said that vehicle electrification is a good start toward reducing Healdsburg’s Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions.
“What we know is that transportation makes up the largest area of carbon emissions in our community and in Sonoma County and in order to reach our goal of carbon neutrality as soon as possible, transportation is one of the area’s where we need to dramatically cut out our carbon emissions,” Kelley said.
According to RCPA’s 2018 GHG inventory, transportation accounts for 57% of Healdsburg’s emissions.
There are 7,433 existing jobs in the city of Healdsburg. Currently, only 17% of Healdsburg workers both work and live in the city, Kelley noted, citing 2010 census data.
“Vehicle electrification is a great way to decarbonize,” Kelley said. “This is a very visible shuttle that will be going around town and reminding folks about the opportunity for electric vehicles, and it reduces the amount of emissions that the shuttle bus has been putting out into the atmosphere and historically for many many years now.”
The RCPA recently provided the Healdsburg City Council with a presentation on its draft Sonoma County Climate Mobilization Strategy, which lays out 13 countywide strategies that have the potential to significantly reduce GHG emissions and increase carbon sequestration by 2030.
“One of the things they talked about was the need to fuel shift our vehicles, meaning both for individuals, the city of Healdsburg and for our transit providers. Right now we have 487 electric vehicles in Healdsburg, but in order to reach our fuel shift goals, we have to get to 3,600 light duty electric vehicles by 2030,” Kelley said.
She said it’s going to take a big shift, such as the transition to electric transit vehicles and consumer choice to electric vehicles, to get to that fuel shift.
“As people buy new cars and make consumer choice, we’re hoping that as electric vehicles become more affordable and as leasing options are available that individuals in our community will make that proactive choice,” Kelley said.
The route 67 shuttle is free and its schedule can be found here.
