DASH Breaks Ground on DMV’s First On-Route Electric Bus Charger
Alexandria, VA — On a rain-soaked Tuesday afternoon June 23, DASH Bus joined city, state, federal, and regional leaders under a tent at the West Alexandria Transit Center to mark a milestone: the region’s first on-route electric bus opportunity charger.
Behind them, cranes rose over the half-finished gleaming buildings of the sprawling West End redevelopment, where the former Landmark Mall is being transformed into a new urban district.
Are you confused about how this all works? And what’s an electric bus opportunity charger anyway?
Daniel O’Shea breaks it down for us. He is ABM Industries’ lead developer on the project.
“It’s an overhead pantograph charger that comes down and touches the top of the bus. It’s also an opportunity charger so it’s on route for the buses,” he explained in an interview with The Zebra before the ceremony began. “This will allow DASH to extend its bus range. When the bus leaves, it only has a set range for the electrical battery. This will allow the bus driver to park, take a break, charge while they’re taking that break, and then extend that route range for DASH to serve its customers.”
Rain hammered the tent as DASH CEO Josh Baker stepped up to the mic.
“Speaking of the rain, I want to say that DASH is the environmentally friendly choice, right?” Baker welcomed the crowd. “And we’re celebrating environmentally friendly buses and electric charging infrastructure. Since we’re in a drought, that’s why we have rain! It’s recognizing the celebration today.”
Baker described himself as a self-proclaimed transit nerd.
“I want to start out by reflecting on how cool public transit is. I started my transit career 27 years ago as a bus operator. I still have my CDL. My staff doesn’t let me drive buses as much anymore, but 27 years ago, I started because I thought it was such a neat thing, and I was really excited to get involved in transit. And here I am 27 years later, celebrating even more cool stuff with transit, electric buses, and electric bus charging infrastructure. It’s just so neat!”
The charger project got a $1 million boost from U.S. Representative Don Beyer, who secured the federal funding in the Fiscal Year 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act to help bring more clean transportation infrastructure to the region.
Baker said this new technology will be able to charge two buses simultaneously. He compared it to your cell phone. If you charge your cell phone overnight, it takes a long time, he explained.
“But if you took that same cell phone and once an hour plugged it in for about 5 minutes and just give it a little bit more juice, that cell phone would keep working throughout the day, throughout the night into the next day. That is what will happen with these buses.”
Baker added that the bus drivers will be able to take a five, ten, fifteen, or twenty minute lunch break while the bus is charging and then hop back into the driver’s seat.
DASH Board Chair David Kaplan introduced Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins with a nod to her transit bona fides: she owns a DASH bus operator’s uniform and wore it last Halloween when she was the keynote speaker for the Coalition for Smarter Growth’s fall social. “I’m disappointed she didn’t wear that costume today,” Kaplan quipped.
“I’m pretty sure there are a thousand other places you could be, maybe somewhere inside,” Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins began. “So I appreciate you being here because it means that you share the same commitment that I know my colleagues on the City Council do as well, which is to make sure that every Alexandrian has the opportunity to be connected to all of the opportunities in our city.”
The mayor was joined by Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley and Councilman Canek Aguirre.
With rain pouring outside the tent, Gaskins highlighted the importance of reliable transit connections as Alexandria grows and develops. The mayor looked behind her at the shiny electric DASH bus.
“Today, as you know, is a really exciting day. It’s an opportunity for us to celebrate not only the further electrification of our fleet, but new infrastructure to make sure that we’re able to keep our buses charged and out on the roads. It is critical that we connect people to housing, to jobs, to infrastructure and to opportunities to support their families and be able to live and thrive within our community.”
Later, this reporter, also a consummate transit nerd, chatted with DASH CEO Josh Baker. He said his office is working on merchandise, and soon he and fellow transit buffs will be able to sport a T-shirt that reads “Transit Nerd.”
