Mass_Transit_March_2020 - 36

Mixed Bus Fleets
OCTA

The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) made news
in early February when it debuted
10 new hydrogen fuel-cell buses
and, what is reported to be, the
largest transit-operated hydrogen
fueling station in the United States.
"The introduction of hydrogen
fuel-cell buses is part of OCTA's
ongoing effort to use the latest in
zero-emission transportation technology for a balanced and sustainable transit future," explained CEO
Darrell E. Johnson. "We are proud
to be working with all our partners
to set a strong example as a large urban transit operator making a positive impact on the environment."
OCTA retired its diesel-engine
buses from service several years
ago and in addition to the new hydrogen fuel-cell buses, 500 CNG
buses make up OCTA's 510-vehicle fleet. The authority also expects to introduce battery-electric
buses to its fleet in late 2021 and
is in the process of procuring 10
plug-in battery-electric vehicles.
While Johnson says OCTA
is in the beginning stages of
operating a mixed-technology
bus fleet, he points to a two-year
demonstration project, funded
through a state grant, to operate
a hydrogen fuel-cell bus as providing ample preparation.
"The demonstration program
allowed us to test the technology
across Orange County and to learn
from how it performed in a variety of conditions and on various
routes," said Johnson. "We learned
a great deal from that program and
found, over time, that a hydrogen
bus could deliver the range and
reliability that maintains the high
level of service that our bus riders
have come to rely on."
Johnson reports the hydrogen
fuel-cell buses can achieve up to 300
miles per day, which meets the demands of OCTA's fixed-bus routes.
OCTA coach operators are receiving specific training to better
understand how the hydrogen
fuel-cell buses operate and tech-

36 |

SolTrans

A SOLTRANS bus
refueling at a CNG
station.

"The

amount of
research
we did to
prepare for
this transition
also made us
ready to apply
for funding
as it became
available."
MANDI
RENSHAW,
SolTrans

Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | MARCH 2020

niques on throttling and braking
that can help achieve maximum
efficiency with the new technology. Johnson says all of OCTA's
more than 600 coach operators
will be trained to drive the fuel-cell buses, but notes the transition has been smooth due to
the similarities between the new
fuel-cell buses and current fleet
of CNG buses, which were both
manufactured by New Flyer.
OCTA has developed a system
of metrics and is at the beginning
stages of analyzing data, including
overall range, miles per kilowatt
hour, cost per mile and amount
of downtime for maintenance.
Johnson expects the type of data
collected will evolve over time and
will be compared to OCTA's CNG
fleet to ensure peak performance.
"Fortunately, having a hydrogen
fuel-cell bus for a two-year demonstration helped work out many of
the early questions that we had
about operations and reliability
before we introduced more fuel-cell
buses into our fleet," said Johnson.

Foothill Transit

Foothill Transit began its transition to electric vehicles in 2010
and currently has a fleet makeup
that includes 33 battery-electric
buses and 340 CNG buses. Of
the 33 battery-electric vehicles,
16 are fast charge buses with the
remainder being extended range
440 kilowatt-hour buses.
The current fleet of electric buses is split between Foothill Transit's
two bus yards with the fast charge
buses at Pomona and the extended
range buses at Arcadia, where the

agency recently completed installation of 13 plug-in chargers.
Roland Cordero, director of
Maintenance and Vehicle Technology at Foothill Transit, has
been involved with the agency's
transition from the beginning
and has experienced the evolution
of the electric buses.
"The technology is really changing the way we look at the type of
vehicles we are able to deploy in
terms of providing public transit
and in helping develop a sustainable system that will help the communities we serve," said Cordero.
Foothill Transit will meet the
state-mandated deadline to transition its fleet to zero-emission by
2040 and hired Burns & McDonnell to develop an electrification
roadmap and analysis to incrementally build the infrastructure
to support that transition.
Burns & McDonnell completed
its report in September 2019, which
included evaluations of several
variables including bus routes, the
number of stops, passenger loads,
topography, temperatures and others to determine the energy needs
required to operate electric buses.
Felicia Friesema, director of
marketing and communications
at Foothill Transit, explains the
deep dive provided in the report
helped with the logistics and
planning necessary for charging
a larger electric fleet.
While the report provided
needed information to plan for a
fleet transition, it also shed light on
the cost of that transition, which
Cordero explains, didn't just grab
his attention, but also the attention
of top leadership at Foothill Transit.
"What stood out was the cost
of the infrastructure and all the
construction related costs to install chargers at our bus yards. It
was an eye opener," said Cordero.
Friesema added, "One of the
things that this report from Burns
& McDonnell prompted us to do
was to look at what our alternatives
might be. We're now conducting
research, looking into hydrogen
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