New York City, home to the nation’s largest municipal bus system with more than 5,700 vehicles, just announced its intention to migrate to an all-electric fleet by 2040. The city is currently testing 10 all-electric buses and has plans to purchase 60 more by next year.
"It does depend on the maturity of the technology—both the bus technology and the charging technology—but we are deadly serious about moving to an all-electric fleet," said NYC Transit President Andy Byford.
Los Angeles has 95 electric buses on order and is aiming to have all its 2,300 buses running on electricity by 2030. Seattle plans to have 120 electric buses on the road by 2020. Washington, D.C. just launched a fleet of 14 electric buses on its DC Circulator system which carries residents and tourists on downtown routes.
And the Chicago Transit Authority, which has been operating two electric buses since 2014, just awarded a contract for 20 electric buses with options for more and up to 13 high-power overhead charging stations.
With major cities across the U.S. having made the decision to shift to all-electric bus fleets, the question is no longer whether this transition to quiet, clean urban mass transit will occur. It’s already happening.
The questions now are: what are the remaining roadblocks and what role will municipalities and transit agencies play in the shift from diesel to electric?
Quantifying the benefits
We know that electric vehicles (EVs) reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality for everyone, but new figures are coming out that quantify those benefits.
In Washington, D.C., the 14 Proterra Catalyst E2 buses will eliminate 244,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions each year while displacing nearly 90,000 gallons of diesel fuel. It will also cut the fleet’s fuel and maintenance bills by more than $6 million over the 12-year lifespan of the vehicles.
A recent study by a researcher at Columbia University found that if New York City shifted from diesel to electric buses, it could reduce health costs from respiratory and other illnesses by an estimated $150,000 per bus. The study also showed that fuel and maintenance costs would drop by $39,000 per year, and the city could cut carbon dioxide emissions across the fleet by 575,000 metric tons per year.
The transportation sector represents up to 40% in cities and 27% of total greenhouse gas emissions nationally, with diesel buses one of the major culprits, according to the U.S. Dept. of Transportation. A single zero-emissions bus can eliminate 1,690 tons of carbon dioxide over 12-years, says the DOT.
Potential roadblocks
As with any new technology, early adopters have discovered some limitations where the rubber meets the road in real-world conditions. The issues revolve around battery life, power of the vehicle and performance under extreme weather.
In some instances, it was found that under withering heat, the air conditioning systems sapped the battery, reducing the range of the vehicle. Similarly, extreme cold weather has taken its toll on EV batteries. And San Francisco, as one might expect, is reluctant to deploy electric buses on its notoriously hilly streets.
But battery technology is improving. Proterra, for example, says that currently, shipping models get up to 350 miles on a charge, but new battery technology is expected to boost that by nearly 30 percent.
Money, of course, is always a potential roadblock with it comes to public agencies investing taxpayer dollars. Not long ago, electric buses were priced at about $1 million, but that has dropped to around $700,00, which is still higher than the sticker price for a diesel-powered bus.
But when you calculate total cost of ownership over the lifespan on the bus and factor in the environmental benefits, transit agencies that don’t electrify will be polluting more and ultimately spend more on their legacy fleets.
Charging forward
According to Black and Veatch’s 2018 Strategic Directions: Smart Cities & Utilities Report, more than half of smart services providers said the need for charging infrastructure – both via depots and on-route – was the most prohibitive barrier to large-scale electric fleet adoption.
The Washington, D.C. deployment provides a model for how it can be done and highlights the coordination and planning efforts needed to support growing fleets and necessary charging infrastructure.
However, the potential for municipalities and transit agencies to play a strategic role in the widespread deployment of EV technology goes far beyond simply providing high-powered charging station for its own buses.
Working with utilities, regulators, EV bus manufacturers, permitting authorities, charging technology providers, engineering and construction service firms, there are opportunities for municipalities to facilitate the sharing of infrastructure and that powers high-powered charging hubs in ways that serve the community at large.
For example, city buses typically run during the day and charge overnight, and people with hybrid cars or pure EVs typically do the same. Rooftop solar power is created during the day, creating an imbalance of supply and demand for the electric power grid.
Using storage, strategic siting and timing of long dwell time workplace, consumer and high utilization fleet fast charging, people could take advantage of charging stations during the day when solar power generation is at its peak.
Over time, utilities and private-public partnerships may enable transit agencies to reduce energy costs by monetizing their investments in energy storage, renewables and coordinating their fleet charging based on known fixed route requirements. Meanwhile, the lessons learned, and high volume of charging hardware required for transit are driving down the costs and acting as a catalyst for trucks and other high duty cycle fleets going electric including trucks, car share, commuter and shuttle bus applications.
As these markets energize charging, utilities are a key participant to make this scenario a reality by encouraging adopt a technology called “managed charging” or “smart charging”. With managed charging, high-power depots and on-route chargers can become flexible load sources that are able to handle increased demand from EVs and incorporate solar and wind power.
The road ahead
There are more than 71,000 public buses on the road today and U.S. cities purchase approximately 5,000 public transit buses each year, so the migration to EVs will be a slow, steady one.
For municipalities and transit agencies, there is tremendous opportunity to lead the way toward a quiet, clean, green mass transit system that benefits paying bus customers as well as the community at large.
Maryline Daviaud Lewett is director of Business Development for Black & Veatch’s Transformative Technologies business. She is responsible for sales and partnerships in distributed infrastructure, sustainable transportation and fleets, engineering, procurement and construction of electric vehicle charging infrastructure networks, fuel cell vehicle filling infrastructure networks, and behind-the-meter energy storage. She holds a Sustainability Management MBA from the Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco.
Paul Stith is director of Strategy & Innovation for Black & Veatch’s Transformative Technologies business. He specializes in sustainable transportation and distributed clean energy solutions. He works with vehicle OEMs, utilities, transit agencies, cities and emerging transportation service providers to plan and build infrastructure for electrification and automation of light, medium and heavy-duty vehicle fleets. Paul received his degree in Business Economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz and studied abroad at Cambridge University, England.
