Feds to give Honolulu $1.45M for electric buses

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz announced Monday that the federal government will award $1.45 million to the Honolulu Department of Transportation Services for the purchase and deployment of fully electric buses.

“Hawai‘i has long been a leader in clean energy, and the city of Honolulu is building on that legacy by transitioning to buses that will keep our air clean,” Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a news release. “I’m glad that this funding will take our state one step closer to reaching our goal of using 100 percent renewable energy by 2045.”

Schatz’s office said a zero-emission electric bus could eliminate nearly 1,700 tons of carbon pollution over its 12-year life span, the equivalent of taking 27 cars off the road.

The funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation is part of Honolulu’s ongoing effort to electrify its public transit operation through public-private partnerships. Hawaiian Electric is expected to install the electric infrastructure for up to five battery-electric buses, while Gillig Corp., the largest all-American bus manufacturer in the United States, will produce the buses.

Hawaii Island

3 saved off Kealakekua Bay after boat starts to sink

Hawaii County firefighters rescued three men from a sinking fishing boat off Kealakekua Bay.

Just before 1:45 a.m. Monday, two fire companies responded to a report of a 22-foot fishing vessel that was taking on water about 6 miles offshore.

The Hawaii County Fire Department said the men, described to be in their 60s, used their cellphones to contact the Coast Guard and Fire Department.

The Coast Guard launched an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and issued a marine information broadcast on the distressed boaters.

Spokesman Lt. Scott Carr said they briefly lost contact with the men at about 2 a.m. but were able to re-establish communications after the boat had capsized. The Coast Guard advised the men to stay with the boat.

When the fire crew arrived on a rescue boat at about 3:15 a.m., they saw the men clinging to the partially sunken vessel.

The Fire Department said the men were wearing life jackets and were in the water for about an hour and a half.

No injuries were reported.

Carr said they encourage mariners to have multiple forms of communication including a VHF radio. The Coast Guard also highly recommends both mariners and watermen be equipped with an emergency position indicator radio beacon (EPIRB) that allows first responders to help pinpoint an individual’s location should an emergency arise.

“It’s the single most important thing that every mariner should have,” Carr said.