(Bloomberg) -- Mayors of some of California's largest cities are urging the state's influential environmental regulator to give the battery-powered bus market a boost.
The California Air Resources Board should introduce incentives and regulatory measures to spur a shift toward electric buses from ones that spew diesel and natural gas emissions, 16 mayors wrote in a letter to the agency.
“Zero-emission buses will significantly improve the air quality in cities across California,” the mayors of cities including Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Jose wrote Monday to Mary Nichols, the chair of the Air Resources Board. “Incentives alone will not spur a shift away from fossil fuel-powered buses.”
Taking statewide action would bolster bus manufacturers including California-based Proterra Inc. and China's BYD Co., which builds battery-powered models at a factory north of Los Angeles. The Air Resources Board already mandates sales of zero-emission passenger vehicles.
Several California cities are electrifying their fleets already. The Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority -- one of the biggest public-transit agencies in the countries -- has pledged to convert all 2,200 buses in its fleet to zero-emission models by 2030.
To contact the reporter on this story: Dana Hull in San Francisco at dhull12@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Craig Trudell at ctrudell1@bloomberg.net, Anne Riley Moffat
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