The federal government is awarding Maine more than $23 million to buy electric buses and charging equipment for the company that operates the propane-powered Island Explorer buses at Acadia National Park and other locations on Mount Desert Island.
Downeast Transportation Executive Director Paul Murphy says the buses should improve the air quality on the island.
"Comparing to fossil fuel buses, they are dramatically cleaner and they're also quieter and they don't smell as bad as fossil fuel buses, although propane is pretty clean," he says. "We're excited. We're also a little afraid because it's a whole new world for us. And so, we have a lot of learning to do, we have a lot of preparation to do, a lot of hard work to do and, happily, we have time to get it done."
Murphy says the first of the electric buses should join the Island Explorer fleet for the 2028 summer tourist season. He says it remains a challenge hiring enough drivers for the service, but he says the company should be able to get closer this summer to its pre-pandemic schedule of service.
