The Roaring Fork Transportation Authority, or RFTA, will test electric buses in Aspen, Snowmass and Pitkin County late this summer.
RFTA isn’t quite sure how the battery-powered vehicles will operate on the valley’s steep inclines.
To test the buses' ability and range, drivers will start them on shorter, flatter routes around Aspen without passengers before moving to longer, steeper roads. The batteries can propel the buses an estimated 100 miles from the charging center at the RFTA facility in Aspen, but factors like weather and sudden accelerations can drain the batteries and shorten range.
Drivers and maintenance workers will get special training on the eight buses, which cost about one million dollars each. About half of the money is coming from the state, and the rest is paid for by RFTA and Aspen, Snowmass, and Pitkin County.
RFTA will test the buses throughout the fall off-season. The hope is to eventually use them in town and add charging stations to places like the Brush Creek Lot or Highlands Village, so they could take longer trips into the mountains and even the Maroon Bells.