The Orange County Transportation Authority has launched a plug-in battery electric bus pilot program, with two of what will eventually be 10 such buses plying routes in Orange County. The program will test the operation of such buses, along with hydrogen fuel-cell buses, as part of a push toward a 100% zero-emission bus fleet.
The remaining eight buses are expected to be delivered later this year.
“This is another important step toward zero-emission transportation technology – one that will help bring even cleaner air quality to Orange County,” said OCTA Chairman Mark A. Murphy, also the Mayor of Orange. “This is a great opportunity for us to test the latest technologies to ensure we continue providing the highest level of safe, reliable transit.”
OCTA also began operating 10 hydrogen fuel-cell electric buses in 2020. The agency is conducting the parallel testing efforts to determine which technology or mix of technologies is optimal for meeting its goal of converting its bus fleet to 100% zero-emission technology by 2040.
The 10 plug-in battery buses are being delivered under a $10.4 million contract with New Flyer of America, Inc. OCTA is working with Southern California Edison to install a new transformer and other infrastructure at OCTA’s Garden Grove base to enable charging of all 10 buses.
The 10 plug-in electric buses are each the standard 40-foot length with a capacity of up to 76 riders. They have an estimated range of 160 to 200 miles between charges, allowing them to run for a full day and be charged nightly at the bus base.
OCTA has already undertaken a long and expensive transition of its fleet from diesel-burning buses to clean-burning renewable compressed natural gas (CNG) buses with near-zero-emission engines, in response to state mandates. Nearly its entire fleet of 500 buses runs on CNG.
However, fossil fuels such as CNG, despite being near-zero-emission, are out of favor with state environmental rule-makers, so transportation agencies such as OCTA must now spend tens of millions replacing their bus fleets for a marginal emissions reductions.
Half of the plug-in battery electric buses will operate on new Bravo! limited-stop route between Anaheim and South Coast Metro in Santa Ana. The other five will operate throughout Orange County.
The hydrogen fuel-cell bus program began operating in January 2020 and was launched at a cost of $22.9 million. $12.5 million of that came from revenues from the state’s cap-and-trade program, under which businesses pay to buy-and-sell emissions credits.
