Transit bus giant GILLIG has announced a new five-year contract with King County Metro, which serves the greater Seattle area. GILLIG will deliver an initial order of 89 GILLIG Low Floor Battery Electric buses, with the option to purchase up to 306 more units.

Built on GILLIG’s Low-Floor platform, the GILLIG Battery Electric Bus features 686 kWh of onboard energy storage. GILLIG says King County’s buses are “equipped with opportunity charging capabilities in addition to plug-in charging.” We were unable to verify what the company means by this, but we do know that, in the past, GILLIG has sold buses equipped with wireless charging systems from WAVE Charging.

The initial deployment of these buses will equip King County Metro’s first fully electrified bus base in Tukwila, Washington, currently under construction. “The buses operating out of this base will serve surrounding south King County communities, where air pollution levels are higher than in other parts of the region.”

“Acquiring these next-generation battery-electric buses from GILLIG moves us closer to our goal of being the first large transit agency in North America that is 100% zero-emission,” said Dow Constantine, King County Executive. “With these new additions to our fleet, our community members, customers, and operators will benefit from cleaner air as we continue to combat climate change.”

Source: GILLIG