Common sense might tell us that electric buses are really a city thing for the bigger, urban transit agencies. It might also tell us that if it’s not electric, it doesn’t count, as we fight to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change.
But I find I have to constantly update my common sense around electric buses, and also around life in general (e-buses can be a metaphor for life, i.e., great challenges and great rewards). Josephine Community Transit, in the rural Southern Oregon city of Grants Pass, has received its first two battery electric buses, made by Complete Coachworks. Scott Chancey, its manager, is getting funding for a third, which with a fleet of just 18 buses may put JCT on track for the fastest fleet transition to electric in Oregon.
After driver training and road-testing, JCT will put its zero emissions buses (ZEBs) into service, just months after TriMet in Portland and SMART in Wilsonville celebrated their first e-buses going into service. (I loved both their celebrations, and look forward to attending Scott’s, too.) I note those urban agencies got significantly more support from their utility around charging infrastructure than JCT got. That’s probably related to their larger size, as well as to the commitment of their utility (Portland General Electric) to decarbonization. The point, I suggest, is that transit agencies in rural areas can be astute and competent in electrifying, even when under-resourced.
Lane Transit District in Eugene is the other Oregon transit agency running some ZEBs. It plans to soon release an RFP for a feasibility study on transitioning their whole fleet to zero emissions. I hope Lane will emulate the King County ZEB program in baking social justice into both their study and their deployment plans. Members of vulnerable communities should be at the table in planning fleet transition, gain job opportunities in the emerging clean energy economy, and be the first to benefit from buses with zero tailpipe emissions.
While I’m admittedly obsessed with electric buses, they have never been the only path to emissions reduction. The transit agencies that have historically had the smallest carbon footprints in Oregon have been the ones running some CNG (compressed natural gas) buses within their fleets: Salem-Keizer, SMART and Rogue Valley Transportation District. I applaud them; CNG was the electric of its time. But unless renewable natural gas (RNG) can reliably replace the CNG being used, and without methane leakage, I’d argue against any more CNG bus purchases, and suggest a policy of electric purchases, instead. I’d also suggest that purchases of used diesel buses made before 2009 be outlawed, especially in CMAQ areas.
The state of Oregon, which has unmet climate and transportation electrification goals, should start actively supporting transit fleet transitions. The lifecycle cost analysis tool of fuel types that the state started two years ago still hasn’t been finished or made available. When can we expect it?
Speaking of fuel types, Lane’s feasibility study will look at and analyze all of them. Which leads us to hydrogen fuel cell buses, also known as the other electric bus, a great term coined by Lauren Justice of Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE). (Disclosure: I’m now doing some business development work for CTE, though this newsletter is not part of that work). In my next newsletter I’ll look at why hydrogen fuel cell buses may be the best, and surprisingly lowest-cost, choice for transit agencies moving to zero emissions.
I’m writing from Yosemite National Park and will not get to attend the Oregon Public Transportation Conference that’s starting soon. Happy to report that Yosemite runs a great shuttle service of hybrid buses that have already started their transition to electric with two Proterra Catalyst models.
Alison Wiley (she/her/hers)
I am on the ancestral lands of the Multnomah, Chinook and Cowlitz peoples.Whose land are you on?