California orders 108 hydrogen-powered buses

New Flyer of America has received an extraordinary order from San Mateo County Transit (SamTrans). This huge order can also be explained by the incentives introduced in California. 

Yes, you read correctly ! California has ordered 108 zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell-electric Xcelsior CHARGE FC^™ 40-foot transit buses. The order was placed by SamTrans, an operator in San Mateo County, which runs 74 bus routes as far as San Francisco and Palo Alto, in California.

New Flyer (a subsidiary of the NFI group) has been working with this public transport operator for 35 years. During this period, the manufacturer has delivered 175 buses, including 27 of which were zero-emission. 

Favourable financing

This investment in hydrogen was made possible by a combination of funding from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), as well as California’s Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) vouchers, and local funds. 

The new fuel cell buses will replace SamTrans’ diesel vehicles. This will help meet the targets set by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), requiring agencies to transition bus fleets to 100% zero-emission by 2040

This purchase, of which the amount is not specified, will also help SamTrans to meet the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions targets of 50-52% below 2005 levels by 2030.

You can read the press release here.

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Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Logan King