VESTAL, N.Y. — Broome County Transit’s first fully electric buses are now in service, transporting the public.

Broome County Executive Jason Garnar, BC Transit Commissioner Greg Kilmer, and Marie Therese Dominguez, commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation, gathered for Tuesday’s event announcing the deployment of the electric buses. Broome County sees it as a “major milestone in the county’s efforts to modernize its public transportation system, reduce emissions, and strengthen sustainability,” per its announcement.

Federal and state grants primarily paid for the six new 40-foot GILLIG battery-electric buses, with nearly 95 percent of the $10.4 million total project cost supported by outside funding sources, Broome County said.

The project received $3.25 million through the Federal Transit Administration’s Low or No Emission Vehicle program, $4.3 million in federal formula funding, $1.54 million from the New York State Truck Voucher Inventive program, and $754,000 in state capital funding.

Broome County contributed just over $540,000, representing only about 5 percent of the total project cost, the county said.

“Broome County depends on BC Transit to connect our residents to work, school and essential services every day,” Garnar said in the Broome County announcement. “This investment allows us to modernize our fleet while protecting taxpayers. Nearly 95% of this project was funded through state and federal grants, helping us bring cleaner, quieter, and more reliable transit to the people of Broome County.”

The new zero-emission buses replace older diesel models.

To support the new fleet, BC Transit has installed six Heliox/Siemens 180 kW chargers featuring a retractable arm system that keeps charging cables safely overhead inside the transit depot. Charging-infrastructure design and construction was led by PlugIn Stations Online, with site management by the New York Power Authority. Additional plans call for solar panels and on-site battery storage at the Vestal Transit Center by 2027, ensuring service continuity and energy resiliency, the county said.