Antelope Valley Transit Authority Promotes All Electric Fleet

Antelope Valley Transit Authority serves more than 450,000 residents in the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale as well as the unincorporated portions of northern Los Angeles County, a service area covering 1,200 square miles. As the first and largest all-electric local bus fleet in the nation, AVTA’s electric buses accumulate a growing number of electric miles travelled every day.

The Antelope Valley has always been known as a leader in technology. With a history of leadership in aviation and aerospace, then a present record of innovation in solar and wind power, it is no surprise that the Antelope Valley would produce North America’s first 100% zero-emission all-electric transit agency.

In 2016, when the AVTA Board of Directors voted to award a contract to BYD to manufacture electric buses over a five year period at BYD’s facility in Lancaster, AVTA has been on the path to pioneering battery electric bus transportation. The project has created a smarter, greener, and more interconnected transit system serving the Antelope Valley and areas extending south into the Los Angeles basin. By combining groundbreaking electric bus technology with wireless inductive charging technology, AVTA’s innovative bus project is the first of its kind in the nation.

Since August 2021, AVTA has been placing into service zero-emissions, high-capacity commuter coaches from MCI. This electric commuter fleet, combined with AVTA’s all-electric local fleet of BYD electric buses, continues to add up the electric miles serving residents of the Antelope Valley around Lancaster, Palmdale, and the unincorporated portions of northern Los Angeles County such as Pearblossom, Littlerock, and Lake Los Angeles.

In January 2022, AVTA announced that the electric fleet had accomplished another milestone, reaching ten million electric miles travelled.

AVTA operates 65 vehicles in their local fixed route fleet, all of which are zero-emission, and 24 battery-electric commuter coaches. The majority of AVTA’s electric fleet consists of BYD electric buses, manufactured in the Antelope Valley.