King County Metro Transit announced it has selected the Walsh-Stantec design-build team to help with their project to transition to a zero-emission bus (ZEB) fleet.

The Walsh Group and Stantec will provide progressive design-build services for the Interim Base Electrification (IBE) project as part of Metro’s goal for a 100% ZEB fleet by 2035.

The $67 million IBE project will provide parking and charging stations for 120 ZEB buses at the existing King County Interim South Base in Tukwila. The IBE project will be the County’s first progressive design-build, which provides an integrated approach, greater resources, and shared expertise between the design-build team and King County.

“We’re excited to work with The Walsh Group to help King County Metro with this large deployment of zero-emission buses in the Pacific Northwest,” said Mark Peckover, Stantec principal and project design manager. “The transition to ZEBs is the future of transit, and Metro is moving forward with a large and important first step. The progressive design-build method allows our team to take a holistic view of the base and how best to continue the transition.”

King County Metro serves a population of more than 2.1 million people. Metro said its goal is to maintain its current fleet of approximately 1,400 coaches as it transitions to a ZEB fleet by 2035 to align with the County’s equity and social justice goals. The project is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2024.

“The Walsh Group is proud to lead the construction of this design-build project that will deliver an impactful mode of clean, sustainable transportation for our fellow King County residents,” said Doug Benjamin, program manager at The Walsh Group. “We have a steadfast commitment to sustainability across our jobsites, and we are excited to join Stantec and King County Metro, two great partners that share the same commitment as well.”

Walsh is managing all construction activities on the project, while Stantec is providing electrical engineering, transportation planning, information and communications technology design, acoustic design, charging system design, and historical archaeology.

“We are excited at the opportunity to work with Walsh-Stantec team, to innovate, build trust and manage change that’s the only constant, as we further the transition to ZEBs. In so doing, adding our weight to the arch of justice.” said Kevin Kibet, King County Metro Transit Capital Project Manager.

The Walsh-Stantec team includes several Small Business Enterprises as subconsultants, including Rolluda Architects, Lund Opsahl for structural engineering, LPD Engineering for civil engineering, and Evenergi for predictive power modeling.