ENDICOTT — Broome County is using three new transit buses that use electric–hybrid technology that BAE Systems manufacturers.

In recognition of Broome County Transit “continuing to go green,” the company’s Endicott plant hosted a Feb. 27 ribbon-cutting event to formally mark the bus deployment. 

These buses include the latest hybrid technology that BAE Systems offers, says Gregory Kilmer, commissioner of the department of public transportation for Broome County.

“It has a great deal more battery storage capacity, which allows these to operate with less of the diesel engine and more of the battery driven electric system,” says Kilmer, who spoke with CNYBJ on March 6. “These are much more energy efficient, and, as a result, [they have] much lower greenhouse-gas emissions.”

The technology has so much electrical capacity now that Broome County is able to use geofencing technology, something that Kilmer calls “one of the unique things about this generation of the hybrid.” It’s taking the GPS technology that’s installed on the bus, drawing an imaginary line around a map, and referring to the area as green zones.

“In those green zones, the buses will automatically switch to full electric mode,” says Kilmer. 

It’s the first time in New York that state this feature has been deployed, he adds, though it has been used in a couple other states where BAE has buses. 

With the capability, Broome County has identified some “high-density areas,” such as Binghamton University, where the transit buses will be able to drive all the way around the campus for the pick-ups and drop offs in full electric mode. 

“What the engineers at BAE have been s to do is take a map of our area and set up these green zones. They draw an imaginary line on that map … and the GPS technology identifies where the bus is and as soon as it crosses over that imaginary line on the map, it automatically switches the bus to full electric mode,” says Kilmer. 

Broome County purchased the buses using grant money from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Buses and Bus Facilities program. The Broome County Department of Public Transportation was awarded the $2 million grant in 2018. The grant program offers funding to state and direct recipients to replace, rehabilitate, and purchase buses and related equipment and to construct bus-related facilities. 

About the power system

BAE Systems’ technology will help Broome County reduce fuel usage and carbon emissions, the firm said in a release. The new buses are equipped with BAE Systems’ series-ER (electric range) power and propulsion system. The hybrid system — which is electrically driven — “saves fuel, emissions and decreases maintenance of mechanical parts,” BAE said. 

The series-ER systems are produced at the company’s manufacturing plant in Endicott.

BAE Systems says it has been working on the development and integration of electric propulsion and accessory systems for transit buses for more than 20 years.

Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia., BAE Systems, Inc. is the U.S. subsidiary of BAE Systems plc, a global defense, security and aerospace company. Its website says the firm employs nearly 86,000 globally. That figure includes more than 1,300 employees in Endicott, per a company spokesman.