DART understands that giving you the best ride also means looking out for your environment.
Today we’re comparing our new
D-Link Proterra buses with our solar-powered bus shelters. Both use clean energy to help you reach your destination.
Two overhead chargers at
Convention Center Station give
D-Link’s new fleet of buses electric power. Rechargeable batteries store this power. These buses can recharge within 10 minutes and can travel up to 30 miles when fully charged.
In comparison,
the lights in 90 percent of DART’s passenger shelters use solar power, and solar panels recharge a battery at the base of the light. In direct sunlight, these panels can fully charge in 6-7 hours of direct sunlight. Once a panel obtains a full charge, it can produce 18 hours of illumination.
The agency also uses 120 freestanding solar lights at bus stops throughout the system. DART installed a version of these lights called the
Bright-Up PV-Stop in the Bishop Arts District. This solar-powered light stands along Route 723 and improves security with dusk-to-dawn lighting and a flashing beacon for stop recognition.
The new
Proterra buses received
funding from a $7.6 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration’s Low or No Emission Vehicle Deployment Program (LoNo Program), and join the electric light rail trains as zero-emission vehicles in DART’s transit fleet.
Continue to stay tuned this month as we share more interesting facts about DART’s new fleet of Proterra buses.