Three, state-of-the-art, zero-emission fuel cell buses joined AC Transit's fleet last year and are operating in regular service, rotating on lines throughout the District.
AC Transit's fuel cell buses have been exceeding all expectations. In the testing phase, the buses reached speeds up to 75 miles per hour and handled 18% grades. In actual service, the buses are also surpassing all expectations when it comes to fuel economy, delivering between 150% and 200% the energy efficiency of diesel. More than 75,000 passengers rode AC Transit's fleet of fuel cell buses in the first year of scheduled service.
More zero-emission buses coming
AC Transit is building at least five new-generation fuel cell buses for its next phase of program development. These buses will be used by a Bay Area consortium of operators as part of an advanced demonstration program mandated by the California Air Resources Board. The design will incorporate many new features and attempt to reduce overall weight and improve performance and fuel economy.
Ride a Fuel Cell Bus
Be one of the first 0.001 percent of people in the world who've already taken a ride on a zero-emission fuel cell bus.
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Dignitaries from dozens of countries have ridden AC Transit's fuel cell buses and toured our fueling and maintenance facilities. On Earth Day last year, the President of the United States stepped aboard one of our fuel cell buses to talk about the importance of such demonstration projects for advancing technological solutions to environmental challenges.
See the press release issued April 22, 2006.
Since then, the recognition has come closer to home as AC Transit has demonstrated the bus for representatives of state, regional, and local government and non-government agencies, such as the State Energy Commission, the California Air Resources Board, the California Fuel Cell Partnership, and for the Governor's two-day inaugural celebration in Sacramento.
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On March 13, 2006, public officials formally inaugurated AC Transit's Oakland energy station, which produces hydrogen on-site from natural gas. While the Richmond station continues to produce hydrogen from water, the new Oakland station has become the main supplier of hydrogen for the fuel cell bus fleet. Since the station entered service, it has dispensed over 10,000 kg of fuel.
See the press release issued March 13, 2006.
AC Transit is developing a third hydrogen energy station, one that would use solar power to produce hydrogen from water.
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As part of AC Transit's ongoing effort to ensure safety, AC Transit has provided training to nearly 300 first responders in Oakland and the surrounding communities.
A primary goal of the HyRoad program is to demonstrate the viability of zero-emission public transit to the nation and to the world. Our demonstration fleet of fuel cell vehicles is being evaluated for performance and public acceptance by the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
In July 2008, NREL published a third report on its evaluation of fuel cell buses in service at AC Transit in Oakland, California. This report provides an update to the previous reports (Feb 2007 & Oct 2007) and includes results and experience through December 2007. The evaluation covers three prototype fuel cell buses in comparison to six diesel baseline buses operating from the same bus depot. During the data collection period (Apr 2006 - Dec 2007), AC Transit operated the fuel cell buses more than 62,000 miles with an overall fuel economy of 6.23 miles per kg, which equates to 7.04 miles per diesel equivalent gallon. For comparison, AC Transit's diesel buses had a fuel economy of 4.2 mpg during the same timeframe. To download the document directly, go here.
See also NREL’s Fact Sheet about AC Transit's prototype fuel cell buses.
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