The DC metro area is getting its first en-route electric bus chargers

Alexandria, Virginia is building the DC area's first en-route chargers for electric buses. Construction has started on two overhead pantograph chargers at the West Alexandria Transit Center, near the former Landmark Mall site, for DASH (Alexandria Transit). A pantograph charger is an overhead arm that lowers to connect with a receptor on a bus roof, delivering fast DC power. These two chargers will each provide up to 360 kW, letting buses top up quickly while out on their routes instead of only at the depot, so they can run longer routes with fewer breaks.

The project is funded with more than $1 million from the federal Fiscal Year 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act, backed by Congressman Don Beyer and the region's federal delegation. ABM's Technical Solutions division is supplying the charging equipment, and DASH says it worked with bus manufacturers to make sure the system works with both its current electric buses and ones it buys later. Construction is expected to finish in 2027.

This is part of Alexandria's push, dating to a 2019 city goal, toward an all zero-emission bus fleet. DASH already runs 16 battery-electric buses, with 20 more funded and being purchased. The agency is also expanding its bus depot, started in late 2025, to fit up to 30 more electric buses and infrastructure for as many as 24 additional pantograph chargers. This news is about public transit infrastructure rather than home energy upgrades, but it shows the pace of electrification spreading into local transportation systems around the region.