Lebanon Transit CNG fueling station open for business

The opening of a new Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fueling station in Lebanon, Penn., is the latest in a series of CNG fueling stations the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) and Trillium CNG are working to open as part of a public private partnership (P3).

Through the $84.5 million statewide P3 project, Trillium is designing, building, financing and will operate and maintain CNG fueling stations at 29 public transit agency sites through a 20-year P3 agreement. 

The newly opened station will serve Lebanon Transit. The transit agency is converting eight buses to CNG, which it estimates will save $50,000 annually based on current diesel costs. The station joins a list of 13 additional CNG fueling stations that have been opened under the P3, including:

• Cambria County Transportation Authority, Johnstown Facility, includes public fueling.
• Mid Mon Valley Transportation Authority.
• Central Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, York Facility, includes public fueling.
• Cambria County Transportation Authority, Ebensburg Facility
• Westmoreland County Transportation Authority
• Centre Area Transportation Authority
• Beaver County Transit Agency
• Crawford Area Transportation Authority
• New Castle Area Transportation Authority, includes public fueling.
• Altoona Metro Transit
• Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, Allentown Facility
• Central Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Gettysburg Facility
• Indiana County Transportation Authority, includes public fueling.

"This innovative program is helping transit agencies save on fuel costs while allowing them to move to a cleaner burning fuel," Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said. "These are important steps to helping us improve the quality of life across Pennsylvania."

Other stations will be constructed over the next several years and Trillium is also making CNG-related upgrades to existing transit maintenance facilities.

Additional stations will be constructed at the following locations:

• Butler Transportation Authority (2019)
• Erie Metropolitan Transportation Authority (2019), includes public fueling.
• Mercer County Regional Council of Governments (2019)
• Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation System (2019)
• Monroe County Transportation Authority (2019)
• Area Transportation Authority of North Central PA, Bradford Facility (2020)
• Area Transportation Authority of North Central PA, Johnsonburg Facility (2020)
• County of Lackawanna Transportation System (2020), includes public fueling.
• Area Transportation Authority of North Central PA, DuBois Facility (2020)
• Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, Easton Facility (2021)
• Luzerne County Transportation Authority (2021)
• Schuylkill Transportation System (2021)
• Transit Authority of Warren County (2021)
• Capital Area Transit
• Port Authority of Allegheny County

"Pennsylvania is now a leading producer of natural gas, and this initiative aims to take advantage of that new, cleaner burning fuel source," said PennDOT Deputy Secretary for Multimodal Jennie Granger. "PennDOT is excited to partner on this program that will bring benefits for the state, transit agencies, and the public for years to come."

PennDOT's overall P3 project includes CNG fueling accessible to the public at six transit agency sites, with the option to add to sites in the future. PennDOT will receive a 15 percent royalty, excluding taxes, for each gallon of fuel sold to the public at public sites, which will be used to support the cost of the project.

Using the P3 procurement mechanism allows PennDOT to install the fueling stations faster than if a traditional procurement mechanism were used for each site, resulting in significant estimated capital cost savings of more than $46 million.

When the project is completed, the fueling stations will supply gas to more than 1,600 CNG buses at transit agencies across the state.