Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus Evaluation for California Transit Agencies
In February 2000, the California Air Resources Board approved regulations to reduce emissions from transit buses in California. Because of this ruling, several transit agencies in the state began developing programs to demonstrate zero-emission buses, specifically fuel cell buses.
DOE is conducting an evaluation of these buses in revenue service. The results will be extremely important in understanding the state of the technology and the work that still needs to be done. This information will also be helpful in estimating what the future technology and costs of operation may be based on the experiences of these operations and expected advances in the systems integration and developments.
Data collected from the bus demonstrations will be used to:
- Develop and document the procedures for evaluating fuel cell buses
- Perform baseline performance testing of fuel cell buses and document the results
- Evaluate the buses' performance, emissions, costs, and operating characteristics
- Define and document infrastructure and facility modifications required to add hydrogen fueling and bus maintenance to the transit sites.
The evaluation involves three primary sites in California. The transit partners' responsibilities include procurement, operation, and maintenance of the buses; installation, operation, and maintenance of hydrogen fueling infrastructure; modification of facilities to allow for safe maintenance of the buses; and transmission of data to evaluation partners. The three sites are:
NREL is also evaluating fuel cell buses in other areas of the U.S. Current projects include:
Publications related to these evaluations will be posted below as the projects progress.
For more information on these DOE evaluations, contact Leslie Eudy at 303-275-4412.
Related Publications
Some of the following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Adobe Reader.
- Fuel Cell Buses in U.S. Transit Fleets: Current Status 2009 (PDF 632 KB), October 2009
- Connecticut Transit (CTTRANSIT) Fuel Cell Transit Bus: Second Evaluation Report (PDF 837 KB), May 2009
- Connecticut Transit (CTTRANSIT) Fuel Cell Transit Bus: Second Evaluation Report—Appendices (PDF 1.3 MB), May 2009
- SunLine Transit Agency Fuel Cell Transit Bus: Fourth Evaluation Report (PDF 642 KB), January 2009
- SunLine Transit Agency Fuel Cell Transit Bus: Fourth Evaluation Report—Appendices (PDF 1.6 MB), January 2009
- Fuel Cell Buses in U.S. Transit Fleets: Current Status 2008 (PDF 772 KB), December 2008
- Connecticut Transit (CTTRANSIT) Fuel Cell Transit Bus: Preliminary Evaluation Results (PDF 1.6 MB), October 2008
- Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) Fuel Cell Transit Buses: Third Evaluation Report (PDF 733 KB), July 2008
- Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) Fuel Cell Transit Buses: Third Evaluation Report—Appendices (PDF 982 KB), July 2008
- SunLine Transit Agency Hydrogen-Powered Transit Buses: Third Evaluation Report (PDF 764 KB), June 2008
- SunLine Transit Agency Hydrogen-Powered Transit Buses: Third Evaluation Report—Appendices (PDF 1.7 MB), June 2008
- SunLine Begins Extended Testing of Hybrid Fuel Cell Bus. DOE Hydrogen Program (Fact Sheet) (PDF 743 KB), June 2008
- Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Transit Bus Evaluations: Joint Evaluation Plan for the U.S. Department of Energy and the Federal Transit Administration (PDF 425 KB), May 2008
- Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Transit Bus Evaluations: Joint Evaluation Plan for the U.S. Department of Energy and the Federal Transit Administration; Appendix A: Summary of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Transit Bus Demonstration Sites in the U.S. (PDF 662 KB), May 2008
- Fuel Cell Bus Evaluation Results (Presentation) (PDF 1.3 MB). Presented at TRB 87th Annual Meeting, January 2008
- CTTRANSIT Operates New England's First Fuel Cell Hybrid Bus (PDF 931 KB). DOE Hydrogen Program, February 2008
- Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) Fuel Cell Transit Buses: Evaluation Results Update (PDF 1.5 MB), October 2007
- Hickam Air Force Base Fuel Cell Vehicles: Early Implementation Experience (PDF 1.9 MB), October 2007
- Heavy-Duty Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Vehicle Projects: Transit Buses (Excel 143 KB), September 2007
- SunLine Transit Agency, Hydrogen-Powered Transit Buses: Evaluation Results Update (PDF 1 MB), September 2007
- Fuel Cell Buses in U.S. Transit Fleets: Summary of Experiences and Current Status (PDF 815 KB), September 2007
- Technology Validation: Fuel Cell Bus Evaluations (PDF 1 MB). Presentation prepared for the 2007 DOE Hydrogen Program Merit Review, Arlington, Va., May 2007
- Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District—Fuel Cell Buses: Preliminary Evaluation Results (PDF 1.4 MB), February 2007
- SunLine Transit Agency, Hydrogen-Powered Transit Buses: Preliminary Evaluation Results (PDF 1.4 MB), February 2007
- Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and San Mateo County Transit District—Fuel Cell Transit Buses: Evaluation Results (PDF 1.9 MB), November 2006
- SunLine Tests HHICE Bus in Desert Climate (PDF 395 KB), October 2006
- AC Transit Demos Three Prototype Fuel Cell Buses (PDF 540 KB), May 2006
- SunLine Expands Horizons with Fuel Cell Bus Demo (PDF 562 KB), May 2006
- VTA Prototype Fuel Cell Bus Evaluation: Interim Results (PDF 413 KB), May 2006
- Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and San Mateo County Transit District, Fuel Cell Transit Buses: Preliminary Evaluation Results (PDF 1.1 MB), March 2006
- Fuel Cell Bus Demonstration Projects: VTA, SamTrans Look into Future with Bus Demo (PDF 506 KB), September 2005
- Fuel Cell Bus Demonstration Projects: Fuel Cell Hybrid Bus Lands at Hickam AFB (PDF 464 KB), September 2004
- ThunderPower Bus Evaluation at SunLine Transit Agency (PDF 1.3 MB), November 2003
- Fuel Cell Transit Bus Coordination and Evaluation Plan (PDF 470 KB), October 2003
- SunLine Test Drives Hydrogen (ThunderPower) Bus (PDF 261 KB), August 2003
- Fuel Cells for the Transportation Industry: Developing a Credible Demonstration Program on the Path to Commercialization (PDF 115 KB)
- Hydrogen Fuel Cell Engines and Related Technologies Course Manual
- Final Report on the Federal Transit Administration, SunLine Transit Agency Cooperative Agreement (Ballard P4 Fuel Cell Bus)
- Part One (Project Summary) (PDF 1 MB)
- Part Two (Technical Project Reports) (PDF 1.8 MB)
- Hydrogen Fuel Cell Bus Evaluation: Report for the Annual Hydrogen Program Review (PDF 681 KB), May 2001