The City of Chattanooga has demonstrated outstanding leadership through its commitment to clean air.  In 1969, Walter Cronkite announced Chattanooga as the dirtiest city in America because of air pollution.  The announcement was a wake-up call, and the City of Chattanooga responded through a collaborative effort laying the ground work for what has become a much cleaner and more vibrant city.   A critical step in the City’s planning involved adoption of clean electric buses for their downtown area.  While many cities are currently exploring electric buses as a cutting edge technology, the City of Chattanooga adopted electric bus technology over 25 years ago.  Their dedication ceremony for their first electric bus was on June 16, 1992.  The electric buses are used for downtown shuttle service provided by the Chattanooga Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA).  There is no fee to ride the electric shuttles, and the shuttles have carried about 15 million passengers.  There are 14+ electric buses managed by CARTA.   In 2017, Chattanooga began the process of acquiring electric buses that will use induction charging technology.  The City is also in the process of launching an Electric Car Sharing Program, which will involve an initial 20 Nissan Leafs.   Currently, the City has a Bike Share Program and a Farm to Table Program.  The City prides itself on having 30+ LEED Certified buildings with a 1.0 MW solar farm along with plans to expand it by another 1.1  MW.  The City of Chattanooga has made a clear commitment to clean air and has been a true leader in adopting new clean technologies.

Tennessee Clean Fuels gave a great video interview on this that can be found here.