Pioneer Transportation Corp., a school bus company in New York City, has signed on with Amply Power as a Charging-as-a-Service (CaaS) customer and will convert five of its existing diesel school buses to battery-operated electric power. Under the five-year contract, signed in July 2021, Amply Power is installing and managing the charging infrastructure as well as overseeing end-to-end support operations for a fixed fee per kWh. The fleet is expected to be fully operational in the first quarter of 2022.

Amply is collaborating with Con Edison, the electricity provider for the New York City metropolitan area, to establish a new, dedicated line-of-service for the converted battery electric buses (BEBs) stationed at Pioneer’s location in the Bronx, which will also host five level-2 (L2) chargers. Con Edison is granting incentives to offset the rates of the new charging infrastructure, which will be designed to avoid disruptive construction at Pioneer Transportation’s lot. Amply will provide comprehensive support services, including infrastructure maintenance and management, utility rate negotiation, charging strategy, and financing support. In addition, Pioneer Transportation is working with existing Amply Power partner UES (Unique Electric Solutions) to convert the buses from diesel to electric.

Pioneer Transportation joins a growing list of bus operators and transportation contractors that have partnered with Amply’s CaaS approach to fleet electrification. These include New York City’s Logan Bus Company, which has partnered with Amply since 2020 to operate five electric school buses from its Brooklyn depot. Recently passed legislation, including a bill requiring all school buses to be powered by electric drive systems by 2035, provides additional opportunity to build Amply’s presence in the market for BEB charging services in New York City. Globally, the market for electric buses could exceed $53 billion by 2027, according to the research firm Global Market Insights.