|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Miami-Dade County recently recognized 14 young student winners of the GO Electric Bus Naming Contest designed to engage fourth graders and their schools from Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) to name the county’s new Proterra 40-foot electric buses now in service.
Students were tasked with naming 14 of these zero-emission buses — one for each commission district and one representing Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
The winning names are as follows:
Miami-Dade County Mayor – The Electric Zoomer, Aventura Waterways K-8 Center;
District 1 – Electrocity, North County K-8 Center;
District 2 – Zarro, Melrose Elementary School;
District 3 – Green Clean Driving Machine, Miami Shores Elementary School;
District 4 – Glow ElectriCity, Treasure Island Elementary School;
District 5 – Go Green Go Electric, Kensington Park Elementary School;
District 6 – Bijuli the Electro Energetic Bus of Miami, Charles R. Hadley Elementary School;
District 7 – The Electric Miami Mover (EMMI), Palmetto Elementary School;
District 8 – The Sunshine Flash Dash, Gulfstream Elementary School;
District 9 – ElectraBus, Miami Heights Elementary School;
District 10 – Westchester Electric Guagua, Rockway Elementary School;
District 11 – Ever-Plus Bus, Claude Pepper Elementary School;
District 12 – Doral Dasher, Downtown Doral Charter Elementary School, and
District 13 – Electric 305, Miami Lakes K-8 Center.
“This is an amazing way to get our youngest residents engaged and excited about public transportation and the importance of modernizing and innovating our services, while also protecting the environment,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “I’d like to thank the schools and students who participated and congratulate the winners for their creativity.”
The students and their families were recognized in a special ceremony by Mayor Levine Cava, County Commission chair Oliver Gilbert, Commissioners Eileen Higgins, Raquel Regalado, and Roberto Gonzalez, Miami-Dade County Public Schools chief operating officer Luis E. Diaz, and the director and CEO of Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) Eulois Cleckley.
“All the students and their teachers who participated are to be commended. All the names, regardless of the final winners, were excellent and thoughtful. Our appreciation goes out to all participants,” added Commissioner Gilbert.
This past fall, DTPW and M-DCPS Division of Academics, Department of Social Sciences provided guidance and class curriculum on the history of transit in Miami-Dade as part of this innovative initiative to engage future transportation and mobility leaders. The students, who represented 37 schools, did a tremendous job in submitting their entries which as required by the contest rules had to have close ties to their respective county neighborhood and the environment. Once all entries were received, DTPW’s leadership team had the tough task of selecting the winning names, which are now on display inside of 14 of the new electric buses.
“We are grateful to the department and county for engaging our students for this project which was exciting, thought provoking and a wonderful teaching moment,” said Dr. Jose L. Dotres, superintendent, Miami-Dade County Public Schools. “It’s also a great way to expose our students to careers in public service at a young age.”
In total, 37 entries were received, which demonstrates how important it is for youth to drive forward green initiatives that can help reduce environmental impacts for their generation.
“I think we captured lightning in a bottle and identified a unique program that can be repeated for other county vehicles in the future. This project exceeded all expectations,” Cleckley said.
Electrification of Miami-Dade County’s Metrobus fleet is advancing the county’s climate action strategy, which is focusing on ways to reduce emissions and ultimately building a resilient and sustainable community.
In 2022, the first 40-foot Proterra ZX5 battery-electric buses from an initial order of 75 vehicles were delivered to the department. As of April, DTPW has received 71 Proterra electric buses, many of which already are in service. The remaining vehicles from the 75 purchased are scheduled for delivery this year.
Once all 75 electric buses are delivered, approximately 10 percent of DTPW’s Metrobus fleet will consist of zero-emission vehicles and the department will operate one of the largest electric transit bus fleets in the nation. Additionally, the department retrofitted three of its bus garages with 25 chargers each for a total of 75 Proterra chargers.
Funding for part of the Proterra procurement came from a grant of $19.8 million from the Volkswagen Clean Air Act Civil settlement, with the DTPW planning on continuing to pursue other funding opportunities to continue its path to a more sustainable future.
