Sen. Schumer Says All Electric Bus Fleet is Coming to MTA, Part of Biden Climate Plan
MAY 4, 2021 - Manhattan -- Sen. Charles Schumer announced today that the federal government will be providing funding to the MTA to convert its entire bus fleet to electric vehicles in the years ahead. Schumer spoke on the subject at a press event at the Tuskegee Airmen’s Depot on 100th Street.
Secretary Treasurer Earl Phillips, Vice President Richard Davis, Division 1 Chair Donald Yates and other MaBSTOA transportation and maintenance officers met with Schumer to insist that job protection for maintainers be a top priority in the transition to electric.
“We support Sen. Schumer’s initiative for the MTA’s bus fleet,” said Phillips. “We have been fighting to rid the workplace and the neighborhoods surrounding our depots of diesel fumes for the past decade.”
But, added Phillips, “a switch to electric buses must not be a job killer. We will not allow that to happen, and we have Senator Schumer’s word that job protection will be a key part of the equation.”