The Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) has awarded New Flyer a contract for 12 Xcelsior CHARGE battery-electric, forty-foot heavy-duty transit buses, with options to purchase up to 63 additional zero-emission buses in 35- or 40-foot lengths throughout the remaining term of the five-year agreement.

In 2020, New Flyer announced in partnership with CTDOT, Robotic Research, and the Center for Transportation and the Environment, that it would deploy North America’s first automated transit bus on CTfastrak with a battery-electric, SAE J3016 Level 4 automated transit bus.

CTDOT owns and operates nearly all public transportation services in Connecticut, delivering more than 27 million annual trips. Its CTtransit bus system is the state’s largest—supporting eight urban areas—and includes CTfastrak, a bus rapid transit system launched in 2015.

The purchase, supported by Federal Transit Administration funds, furthers the CTDOT Electric Bus Initiative, a partnership between CTDOT, CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and bus transit providers that has committed to providing a safe, reliable, sustainable clean energy transportation system.