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of line charging infrastructure to help keep the buses charged all day, as well as upgraded stops and stations and the new buses themselves!
“ This has given us the opportunity to lean into how we evolve our fleet mix over time,” she continues.“ We have traditionally been a diesel bus fleet, and this has been a real push to look at what options are out there.”
Beyond infrastructure, sustainability drives many of CapMetro’ s operational decisions.“ The greenest thing we can do as a public transit agency is to get people out of their cars and onto the bus or the train,” says Dottie.“ So, we’ re continuously trying to get people to change their behavior and use our shared ride, public transport system.”
Alongside new diesel hybrid buses, CapMetro is installing a 12-acre solar canopy over one of its bus yards, which will generate renewable energy, provide shade to reduce vehicle temperatures, and support charging infrastructure.“ All of this helps us deliver a better experience to our customers because ultimately what we want to do is put out a great transit service that people really want to be on, so that we have fewer cars on the road.”
Meeting traveler needs remains the foundation of CapMetro’ s operation.“ Our ability to have good community partnerships, focus on what the region needs, and ensure our services fit in with how people need to move around has been crucial – we have had to evolve as our region evolves,” Dottie notes.“ We evaluate our service plans every five years, and we are now in the first new phase since Covid changed mobility behavior. We must think about how or if our service delivery needs to change and where we invest our resources to meet these needs. I think what’ s made us successful over the last 40 years is always reminding ourselves about what we’ re here to do. We will pivot to meet the region’ s needs.”
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