The MBTA is installing electric vehicle charging stations at its Everett maintenance facility, a $2.3 million infrastructure upgrade needed to replace the diesel buses that have served Greater Boston for half a century.

The charging equipment will go in at Everett Shops on Broadway Street, one of the transit agency's major bus garages serving routes north of the city. The facility, built in 1971, maintains buses running through Everett, Chelsea, Revere, and surrounding working-class communities where diesel exhaust has compounded air quality problems from nearby industrial sites and highways.

Massachusetts law requires the MBTA to convert its entire 1,100-bus fleet to battery-electric vehicles by 2040, with all new bus purchases going electric starting in 2030. The agency committed to the timeline in 2021 as part of the state's climate roadmap targeting net-zero emissions by mid-century.

The transition has moved slowly. The MBTA received its first 20 electric buses in 2023 but has struggled with charging infrastructure delays across multiple facilities, blamed on supply chain issues and complications coordinating electrical grid upgrades with utility companies. A 2022 facilities assessment found Everett Shops needs substantial electrical work to support modern equipment.

Everett, a city of 49,000 with median income 20% below the state average and heavy concentrations of immigrant residents, has long dealt with pollution from power plants, waste facilities, and diesel truck traffic. Environmental justice advocates have pushed for faster bus electrification in communities like these, where transit emissions fall hardest on low-income neighborhoods.

The MBTA is accepting contractor bids for the turnkey installation through its procurement portal. Construction timing has not been announced.