Miami-Dade Adding Hybrid Buses To Modernize Fleet

Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- The Metrobus is getting bigger, smarter and greener.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez and members of the commissioners board held a ribbon cutting ceremony Friday, November 4th, in celebration of the county's newest 60-foot, diesel-electric hybrid buses.

The Department of Transportation and Public Works acquired 11 hybrid buses for the planned express bus service along State Road 836.

"This service will provide three express bus lines along SR 836, from west Miami-Dade County to downtown Miami and the Miami Central Station," the county stated in a media release.

The first line is scheduled to start service in late 2017.

The 11 hybrid buses are currently running along S.W. 8th and Flagler streets, as well as the South Dade TransitWay.

The buses are equipped with Wi-Fi modems and have increased the passenger capacity from 60 to 100 people. County leaders said the purchase fits within the county's initiative to "seek sustainable energy sources for its bus fleet, and to support the sustainability plan known as GreenPrint."