SunLine orders five New Flyer fuel cell buses
12 December 2017
SunLine Transit Agency in California has awarded New Flyer of America—the US subsidiary of New Flyer Industries—with a contract for five Xcelsior fuel cell-electric forty-foot, heavy-duty transit buses. The new order, which was supported by the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) Low Carbon Transportation and Air Quality Improvement Program, and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Low or No-Emission (Low-No) fund (earlier post), supports fleet expansion aligned to SunLine’s mandate to provide safe and environmentally conscious public transportation and alternative fuel solutions in the Coachella Valley.
Sunline already has five fuel cell buses in its operations. SunLine will also beupgrading its on-site hydrogen generation fuel infrastructure as part of this new project.
In its partnership with CARB, SunLine will be testing one full year of revenue service, measuring environmental impact and sustainability of the fuel cell powered heavy-duty transit buses.
SunLine Transit Agency provides public bus service in the Coachella Valley and Riverside-Downtown areas of California, and moves more than 3.5 million passengers per year. The NFI Group has over 50 years of experience in manufacturing zero-emission buses (ZEBs).
This project is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of cap-and-trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy and improving public health and the environment—particularly in disadvantaged communities. The cap-and-trade program also creates a financial incentive for industries to invest in clean technologies and develop innovative ways to reduce pollution. California Climate Investments projects include affordable housing, renewable energy, public transportation, zero-emission vehicles, environmental restoration, more sustainable agriculture, recycling and much more. At least 35% of these investments are made in disadvantaged and low-income communities.
NFI Group and its subsidiaries comprise the largest bus and motor coach manufacturer and parts distributor in North America, with 32 fabrication, manufacturing, distribution, and service centers located across Canada and the United States and employing nearly 6,000 team members.
NFI Group provides a comprehensive suite of mass transportation solutions under several brands: New Flyer (heavy-duty transit buses), ARBOC (low-floor cutaway and medium-duty buses), MCI (motor coaches), and NFI Parts (bus and coach parts, support, and service). NFI Group’s vehicles incorporate the widest range of drive systems available, ranging from clean diesel, natural gas, diesel-electric hybrid, trolley-electric, battery-electric and fuel cell.
New Flyer actively supports more than 44,000 heavy-duty transit buses (New Flyer, NABI, and Orion) currently in service, of which 6,400 are powered by electric and battery propulsion.
Until such time as 5X to 10X affordable batteries become available, FC buses and suburban passenger trains could become an acceptable solution without the use of unsightly overhead cables and/or polluting ICE vehicles etc.
FCs units (buses and/or trains) range can easily be increased to satisfy inter-city services and reduce the use of private vehicles, pollution and GHG.
Posted by: HarveyD | 13 December 2017 at 09:22 AM