MIAMIBEACH
By Paul Scicchitano
Greening the FleeT Half of All City Vehicles on Pace to be Environmentally Friendly by 2025
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MB magazine | Spring 2022
W
ith large rotating brushes, LED headlights, flexible hoses and pressurized water sprayers, the Italian-made ARIA 240 Super all-electric, self-powered street sweeper and the more compact Itala 135 were being put through the paces during a recent demonstration outside the Miami Beach Sanitation Department. The machines lurched forward and backward as powerful vacuums sucked up even the smallest debris while a group of city officials made notes about run times and capabilities. The larger sweeper was fitted with an LED screen that might one day invite residents to an upcoming cultural event or warn them of an approaching storm. While the futuristic street-cleaning equipment looked more like the tractorlike Zambonis used to smooth ice-skating rinks, they are in reality the next generation of zero-emission equipment to hit the government market as Miami Beach and other municipalities seek alternatives to the gasolinepowered vehicles and equipment that have been decadeslong workhorses.
