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For years, Amtran has been replacing its diesel and diesel-electric buses with vehicles that run on compressed natural gas, as part of a PennDOT program whose impetus includes support of the state's Marcellus shale industry.
The bus authority recently took delivery of seven CNGs, leaving only three more diesel-electrics to be replaced in 2024 -- at which time it was presumed that Amtran would fully transition to natural gas for its 26-bus fleet.
But given the increased national emphasis on electric vehicles, that is now in doubt.
In 2024, "it could go either way" -- with the purchase of three final CNGs or the authority's first three electric buses, said Amtran General Manager Eric Wolf after a meeting this week.
The transit industry is "clearly" headed for electric, but the electric bus manufacturers aren't quite up to the challenge yet, because of shortcomings in battery technology, according to Wolf, when asked by board member Dick Moran.
To be practical for transit agencies, electric buses need to be capable of going all day on one charge and of being fully charged by next morning, Wolf said.
Some electric buses purchased by transit agencies that came early to electric are now sitting idle, because they can't go all day on a single charge, Wolf said.
Still, the expectation is that improvements are coming, he said, as "it's evolving technology."
Powering a bus all day is a major challenge for electric, because the batteries will need not only to propel the vehicles, but to heat them in winter and cool them in summer, Wolf said.
And they'll need to do that in more extreme environments than Altoona, he said.
"It's a big load," Wolf said.
For now, it would seem reasonable to go with "proven" technology, authority member Larry Bilotto said.
In 2030, the next year likely to be scheduled for bus purchases after 2024, the odds are high that Amtran will buy electrics,
Wolf said.