A large number of BYD’s all-electric, zero-emission buses were used during the recent 2015 Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles as athlete transportation, according to a recent press release.
Considering that this recent event was the biggest Special Olympics yet hosted, with 6,500 different athletes competing and requiring transportation, the participation by BYD Motors is well worth noting. It’s also complete common sense.
“World Games Host Town and the City of Long Beach is grateful for the buses and drivers that BYD provided to transport our athletes while touring Long Beach,” stated Long Beach Community Foundation President & CEO, and 2015 Host Town Transportation Coordinator Marcelle Epley. “BYD stepped up majorly as one of our key supporters and their tremendous efforts made our athletes feel welcomed. We depended on them, and they came through 100%.”
BYD Motors President and CEO, Stella Li, commented at the opening ceremonies (which were attended by First Lady Michelle Obama and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti) last Saturday: “BYD could not be more proud to be a transportation provider for the 2015 World Games. With athletes competing tomorrow we are happy to see our Zero-Emissions electric buses operating both here and now in service at LA Metro hopefully providing a cleaner environment for these magnificent athletes to compete in.”
The move accompanies recent ones by the cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach to buy BYD’s all-electric offerings in their recent procurement rounds — representing what is, presumably, a growing move towards zero-emissions public transportation.
“Los Angeles led the way years ago with the mass adoption of clean-air natural gas transit buses, and we are excited to again be the first large American city taking this final step to Zero-Emissions transportation by electrifying our fleet,” commented LA County Supervisor Michael Antonovich back in May.
As it stands, as of April 1, BYD has sold more than 5,000 electric buses worldwide; and its buses have seen more than 38 million miles “in revenue service” to date.
Related:
London Getting 50 More Electric Buses
Image Credit: BYD
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