Table of Contents
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In the rain at the West Alexandria Transit Center, DASH and city officials broke ground Tuesday on what they say will be the first on-route electric bus charger in the Washington region, marking a milestone in the agency's yearslong push toward a fully zero-emission fleet.
The overhead charging system, being installed at the transit center near the former Landmark Mall site on Duke Street, will allow electric buses to top off their batteries during short layovers without returning to the garage — a change DASH General Manager and CEO Josh Baker compared to the difference between charging a cell phone overnight versus plugging it in briefly throughout the day.
"If you took that same cell phone and once an hour plugged it in for about five minutes and just gave it a little bit more juice, that cell phone would keep working throughout the day, throughout the night, into the next day," Baker said. "That is what will happen with these buses."
The charger will use a pantograph arm that descends from an overhead structure to connect with metal rails on the roof of an electric bus, simultaneously charging up to two buses at a time. Bus operators will be able to charge during breaks of five to twenty minutes, Baker said, rather than taking buses out of service for hours at the garage.
The project is funded through a $1 million federal earmark secured by U.S. Rep. Don Beyer in the Fiscal Year 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act, in partnership with the City of Alexandria. Beyer credited district chief of staff Noah Simon and staffer Grace Brightbill, who he said wrote the appropriations amendment. "The million dollars came out of her typewriter," Beyer said.
Beyer noted the return of congressional earmarks — banned after 2006 and restored in recent years — as central to the project's success. "Keep bringing us more," he told city officials. "We'll bring more."
Mayor Alyia Gaskins called the charger a reflection of the city's broader values around mobility, sustainability, and investment in workers, noting the location at the Landmark redevelopment site — now called West End Alexandria — positions DASH at the center of one of the city's largest transformations. She was joined by Vice Mayor Sarah Bagley and Councilmember Canek Aguirre.
"Landmark represents exactly what we talk about when we talk about healthy, connected and complete communities," Gaskins said, citing the mix of housing, a hospital, retail and open space planned for the site.
DASH Board of Directors Chair David Kaplan said 16 percent of the current DASH fleet is already battery-electric, with an additional 20 electric buses in procurement. He said he hopes to see more on-route chargers at transit centers across the city.
Tuesday's groundbreaking is the latest in a series of electrification milestones for DASH. In May, the agency added two 60-foot articulated electric buses to its Line 35 corridor, which serves up to 6,000 riders daily between Van Dorn Metrorail Station and the Pentagon. Last October, DASH broke ground on a facility expansion on Business Center Drive that will support up to 30 additional buses and include infrastructure for up to 24 future overhead pantograph chargers — funded in part through an $11 million Smart Scale grant from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.
DASH and the City of Alexandria set a goal in 2019 to transition the entire fleet to 100% zero-emission vehicles. The agency's strategic plan and the city's Environmental Action Plan for 2040 reaffirm that target.
The on-route charger project involves DASH, the City of Alexandria, ABM Industries, and Dominion Energy, along with support from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation and the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission.
Baker opened his remarks by framing the rain — the ceremony was held under a tent — as fitting. "DASH is the environmentally friendly choice," he said, "and since we're in a drought, that's why we have rain, because it's recognizing the celebration today."
