Blacksburg Transit is stepping up its game with electric buses and the capability to charge them on the go.
Twenty-eight buses are currently electric versus diesel gasoline, and riders might have noticed a special dropdown charger at the BT/Virginia Tech transportation center. In addition, the BT has seven chargers within its garage area off of 2800 Commerce Street.
This all centers on charging 28 transit buses that run as many as 18 different routes every day and is a trend being seen throughout the world.
Public electric buses have shifted from pilot programs to the standard for transit worldwide. Blacksburg, which got its early start in 1983, received its early electric buses by such a funding program.
Driven by lower maintenance costs, zero emissions and community health benefits, electric-fueled buses now account for over 50 percent of new city bus sales globally.
Those numbers continue to surge nationwide in the United States, growing by double-digits annually. California leads the charge nationally, operating over 3,382 zero-emission school and transit buses.
In Virginia, many localities are using federal and state grants to operate their electric transit system supported by new “in-route” charging. BT was one of three transit agencies awarded funding for electric buses in 2019 from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation and the Department of Environmental Quality.
Brian Booth is the Blacksburg Transit (BT) director. He came on board in 2021 and brags about the transit authority’s effort to place more electric vehicles on the road. “They (electric ones) benefit everyone,” he said.
While upfront costs remain higher than diesel, transit operators are largely won over by significant long-term savings in fuel and maintenance. This is true in Blacksburg.
A typical diesel 35-foot bus costs about $600,000 while the electric version is over a million dollars, or about 50% more. While the initial purchase costs are more expensive than a traditional diesel bus, the real savings will come from the life cycle costs. BT anticipates saving approx. $125,000 in operating and maintenance costs over the 12-year life span of an electric bus.
The drop-down charger typically takes three hours to recharge, and each bus has 12-13 hours of service on each battery.
Initially, BT had hoped to have more electric buses on the road by 2026, but recent battery recalls and funding have slowed that process. Post-pandemic supply chain issues have also limited the fleet available to purchase.
Booth said the agency has put a pause on new electric purchases, but that doesn’t mean the goal of having more electric ones on Blacksburg roads has been put on a complete stoppage.
“We are still looking at adding more in the future,” he said.
State officials say Blacksburg is operating one of the most heavily utilized transit networks, thanks to students from Virginia Tech. Currently, this includes a fleet of electric buses (57 percent of its fleet being electric) in addition to the older diesel ones. BT operates total of 69 buses that serve routes in Blacksburg and Christiansburg.
Because of the electric bus effort, BT was recognized by the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce with its 2020 Green Sustainability Award.
In addition to the chamber award, the Virginia Transit Association recently named BT a recipient of the inaugural Hill Spencer Ridership Award, which goes to the transit system with the greatest year-over-year ridership increase among public transit systems across the Commonwealth.
Named in honor of Mr. Robert Hill and Dr. Turner Spencer, the inaugural presidents of the Virginia Public Transit Officials Association and the Virginia Transit Association, respectively, the award recognizes transit agencies achieving the highest percentage increase in ridership based on data from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation’s Open Data Portal. Awards are presented across four ridership categories, ranging from systems with more than 2 million annual passenger trips to those with fewer than 100,000 annually. BT was recognized in the 2 million+ annual passenger trips category.
The recognition follows a record-breaking year for BT, which provided more than 4.7 million passenger trips during fiscal year 2025 — a 26% increase over the previous year and the highest ridership total in the system’s history.
“This award reflects the hard work and dedication of our staff, the support of our community partners, and the trust our riders place in us every day,” said Booth. “We’ve worked hard to improve service reliability, efficiency, and the overall rider experience, and it’s rewarding to see those efforts recognized.”
BT’s recent ridership growth has been driven in part by the March 2025 opening of the new Transit Center located on Virginia Tech’s campus and the implementation of “The Loops” in August 2024, creating a centralized transit hub on campus and improving operational efficiency across the system.
The redesigned network has allowed BT to increase service frequency on many routes without adding additional buses while also reducing travel times and increasing route connectivity.
Also, in 2019, BT was named the American Public Transportation Association’s Outstanding Public Transportation System for agencies carrying fewer than four million passenger trips per year. BT was singled out for their successful delivery of service to Virginia Tech, Blacksburg and Christiansburg.
With Amtrak is coming to our region in 2027, Blacksburg Transit is now seeking community input on how riders plan to access the new rail service.
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