On Sept. 17, the City of Madison announced that two electric garbage trucks — the first in Wisconsin — would soon hit the streets. Now, locals can vote on a name for each of the two vehicles.
Heavy-duty trucks are one of the largest sources of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions . A non-electric garbage truck uses approximately 17 gallons of diesel per day (and every gallon of diesel corresponds with over 22 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions ). The switch to electric vehicles is part of Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway’s Climate Forward Agenda (as is the use of electric buses in the newly-launched Bus Rapid Transit).
As an added bonus, the electric trucks will be quieter than the standard diesel trucks.
In a preliminary round of name submissions, the City of Madison Streets Division received 792 unique names. Those submissions have now been trimmed to a final dozen per truck. Many relied on electricity- or power-themed wordplay (like “Dr. Wattson,” “Sherlock Ohms” or “Vin No Diesel”) while others focused on the fact that these flashy new electric vehicles are still, in fact, garbage trucks (“Trucky McTruckface” feels perhaps uninspired but certainly accurate).