AC Transit's Zero Emission Transit Bus Technology Analysis (Volume 4)
The Zero Emission Transit Bus Technology Analysis (ZETBTA) is designed to meaningfully analyze the various transit bus technologies that AC Transit operates. This report, Volume 4, is the fourth edition of the study which concludes the two-year study with results from the fuel-cell electric bus (FCEB), battery electric bus (BEB), diesel hybrid bus, and conventional diesel bus technologies control fleet. There are five different technologies being evaluated: two different fuel-cell electric system designs, along with the other technologies. Five of each bus technology types are included in this study; hence the original nickname of the report was the 5X5 Transit Bus Technology Analysis. While AC Transit recognized the value of operating five different transit bus technologies by the same agency on the same routes in the same service environment, we realized that over 20 years of experience operating zero emission bus (ZEB) technologies afforded the opportunity to go much further. We integrated lessons learned and best practices gleaned from our extensive experience in deploying ZEB technologies, including developing innovative workforce training programs and data integration and management. When selecting cost and performance data to include in this analysis, AC Transit carefully considered key performance indicators (KPI) that align with our Strategic Plan and ZEB Transition Plan to guide the implementation of ZEB fleets. This approach provides data results that help assess which ZEB technology can best meet the operational requirements of the District while being financially efficient and sustainable.
Volume 4 of the Zero Emission Transit Bus Technology Analysis report is an enhanced version from the third publication. The additional results presented in this reporting period include the following that are key takeaways from the previous report:
1) The District updated its ZEB Transition Plan to meet requirements established in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and type of technology replacement based on the ZETBTA cost/ performance data.
2) Workforce training has achieved over 25 thousand hours of instruction on ZEB technology and is moving forward with testing mixed reality systems (virtual and augmented reality) to engage workforce in the learning process.
3) Infrastructure upgrade at Oakland (Division 4) will create the capacity necessary to support our 2040 planned inventory.
4) Continued cost increases for the diesel, hydrogen, and electricity energy sources.
5) Summary comparison of the 4 volumes added to the appendix with a corrigendum on corrective action on data issues.