SPOKANE, Wash. – A local commuter faced delays when her electric bus lost power during her morning trip to work, highlighting potential issues with electric transportation as cold weather approaches.
The Spokane Transit Authority (STA) has confirmed that the bus involved is back in service and is being monitored closely. Cassie Potts, who regularly rides STA’s 722 Express, experienced the problem firsthand during her Thursday morning commute.
Potts described the situation, saying, “So we got on the freeway and the bus did start, like making a beeping noise.”
The bus driver informed passengers about the low battery and arranged for a transfer to another bus. Potts explained, “And the bus driver was super helpful. She was like, hey guys, this is the situation. I got really low battery. I’m going to need to transfer you guys to a different bus. So she was trying to get us to SCC so that we can get on the city line and my first thought was like, oh, great, I get to, I’m going to be late for work now.”
Potts arrived at work 35 minutes late and had to use her paid time off to cover the delay. Initially, she thought the cold weather caused the battery drop, but STA clarified that was not the case.
Brandon Rapez-Betty from STA explained, “In that specific case, the weather really did not have any impact on the bus. There was a mechanical failure with one of the battery cells.”
STA reported that the battery temporarily fell to 14%, below its policy threshold of 30%. Although this incident was not weather-related, STA acknowledged that cold temperatures can reduce the range of their electric fleet.
Rapez-Betty further commented, “When the temperature hits 20 degrees, the batteries do lose a lot… and so we made service adjustments to make sure customers didn’t experience anything differently.”
STA assured that the bus has been recharged, balanced, and is back on the road. They will continue making adjustments as winter temperatures drop.
