Objective

To determine whether the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has taken steps to evaluate all significant issues (including cost, fire safety, technology, operations, facilities, training, and environmental justice) related to battery-electric bus deployment and included the results of its evaluations in its bus deployment plans. The audit covered the period from January 2019 through June 2025.

About the Program

The MTA has the largest bus fleet in the nation, operating 10% of all public transit buses in the United States and carrying 16% of the nation’s bus passengers. Two MTA entities, New York City Transit and MTA Bus Company, provide bus service within the five boroughs of New York City out of 27 depots. In March 2026, there were 5,780 buses in the combined fleet.

In 2018, the MTA committed to transitioning its entire bus fleet and non-revenue vehicles to zero‑emission vehicles by 2040. State Executive Order 22, issued in 2022, also stated that affected entities such as the MTA “shall have 100% of their light-duty non-emergency vehicle fleets be Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs) by 2035 and 100% of their medium and heavy-duty vehicle fleet be ZEVs by 2040.”

MTA issued its Zero-Emission Transition Bus Plan (Plan) in 2022, and an updated plan in 2024. The 2024 Plan focused on three major areas for transition: fleet, facilities, and workforce. The MTA’s transition strategy consists of four stages:

• Stage 1 – Learning at Scale
• Stage 2 – Expansion Challenge
• Stage 3 – Steady Growth
• Stage 4 – Final Push

The strategy aligns with MTA’s 5-year capital planning process, with a focus on five goals: prioritizing environmental justice, having no impact on customer experience, limiting constraints on operations, reducing implementation costs and complexity, and empowering its workforce.

Regarding environmental justice, one of the MTA’s identified benefits of transitioning the bus fleet to zero emission was that it would provide a direct air quality benefit to communities that experience disproportionate environmental risks or harms. To facilitate decision-making and prioritization for the zero-emission fleet rollout, the MTA developed an Environmental Justice Score that combines equity and air quality considerations to help ensure the communities that are potentially the most impacted by emissions receive the benefits of the zero-emission bus rollout.

Per its 2024 Plan, the MTA intends to replace buses on a one-for-one basis with no increase in fleet size, and to have all new bus deliveries be zero emission by 2029. Through the four stages, MTA planned to increase its zero-emission bus (ZEB) purchases by 560, 1,000, 1,970, and 3,300, respectively. Most of the ZEBs purchased in the first two stages are expected to be battery-electric buses (BEBs). The MTA also plans to test hydrogen fuel cell electric buses to determine whether the technology will work on a larger scale in later stages.

The transition to ZEBs will require significant upgrades and modifications to depots, including improving the electrical infrastructure, adjusting existing equipment and structures, and expanding, reconstructing, and/or acquiring new facilities. Additionally, the transition introduces new risks, such as hazards associated with the use of high voltage and the risk of battery fires, which can be difficult to extinguish and can reignite.

According to the 2024 Plan, the MTA will provide all operating staff working at the depots where ZEBs are deployed with training on basic high-voltage safety and to generally familiarize them with the new buses and charging infrastructure. Additionally, all bus operators assigned to depots with BEBs and maintainers whose roles involve operating BEBs are to receive bus operation training and the latter will also receive specialized training on BEB maintenance.

Key Findings

The MTA is at risk of not meeting its goals for transitioning to a zero-emission fleet by 2040 due to issues related to bus availability and reliability, slow updates to infrastructure, and environmental justice and safety priorities. Specifically:

• MTA has only one BEB manufacturer, which has limited capacity and a backlog of orders from the MTA and other customers.
• The 2024 Plan called for 485 buses to be delivered by the end of Stage 1. However, as of June 2025, the MTA had received only one bus. In addition, the MTA has reduced the number of buses ordered for Stage 2 from 1,000 to 500.
• The 75 buses deployed to date (the MTA received other BEBs through an earlier pilot program and Capital Plan) have had issues with reliability. The BEBs at five depots were only able to be put into service less than 60% of the time the MTA anticipated they would be in service. It is therefore unlikely that the MTA will be able to meet its goal to replace existing buses on a one-for-one basis. Rather, based on the equipment currently available, it would need to increase its fleet size and incur additional costs.
• Representatives of six public authorities (four in-state and two out-of-state) that we interviewed stated that they have experienced the same issues with BEB reliability and availability as the MTA.
• An MTA consultant noted in their report that additional power supply will be required for all the MTA’s depots. However, BEB deployment issues have also delayed work, including the addition of battery-electric charging infrastructure and support for increased power supply at the depots, including those depots scheduled to receive new buses.
• While environmental justice is a stated priority, this was not clearly reflected in the transition plan’s results. Buses were placed, without documented reasoning, in depots located in areas receiving lower Environmental Justice Scores than other depots in the same borough.
• While fire is a significant new risk with BEBs, the MTA’s Office of System Safety officials were not involved in developing related safety plans and were not made aware of the project plans regarding fire detection, fire suppression systems, and emergency response plans.

Key Recommendations

• Develop a contingency plan to address the milestones that have not been met and the risk that the MTA will not be able to meet its goals.
• Evaluate available alternatives to improve range and performance and document the results.
• Re-evaluate the timeline for bus procurement and deployment for the next phase of the MTA’s ZEB transition plan.
• Establish clear, measurable prioritization criteria and implement monitoring controls to ensure outcomes consistently align with stated priorities.
• Continue to work with the Office of System Safety and the New York City Fire Department to develop formal procedures for facility emergency response, fire suppression systems, and fire safety plans.