Maplewood has replaced its entire fleet of jitneys with three new fully electric vehicles — 100% funded by the State of New Jersey.
“The whole idea is to reduce global emissions,” said Mayor Vic De Luca at a ribbon cutting for the new jitneys on Baker Street in Maplewood Village on Saturday, April 11.
“We’re going to be taking the three diesel buses we have and decommissioning them,” explained De Luca. “Actually cutting them up and destroying them so they are taken off the road forever, scrapped.”
“You have to prove that you’ve taken them apart,” said De Luca.
Maplewood Township Committee cuts the ribbon on new electric jitney, April 11, 2026. Left to right: Dean Dafis, Jane Collins-Colding, Mayor Vic De Luca, Nancy Adams, Deputy Mayor Malia Herman.
De Luca said that the township will be applying for three additional electric jitney buses through the state program, for a total of six electric jitneys. The charging station for the jitneys — and any other electric vehicles owned or used by the township — is located at the Department of Public Works/Recycling Center on Boyden Avenue.
The new jitneys have seating for 34 and room for standees, as well as wheelchair lifts. Maplewood currently has three active jitney routes, so each route will receive a new electric jitney, De Luca reported.
De Luca was joined at the ribbon cutting by fellow Township Committee members Dean Dafis, Jane Collins-Colding, Nancy Adams and Deputy Mayor Malia Herman — as well as Pierre Renaud, jitney driver and manager, who has worked for the township for 27 years.
For more information on the Maplewood Jitney, visit: maplewoodnj.gov/government/public-works/jitney-bus-services/
Pierre Renaud
