Intercity Transit (IT) is moving to the next phase of its zero-emission analysis project, which seeks to assess the cost of having a zero-emission fleet.
Intercity Transit’s Board of Directors authorized Interim General Manager Emily Bergkamp on Wednesday, October 4, to amend a contract with the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) hired in October 2022 to conduct the study. An additional $596,150 was included in the contract, which was also extended for another year to begin the work on the subsequent phases of the project.
The project's first phase dealt with analyzing available zero-emission technologies and the cost of implementing them for IT.
According to Procurement Coordinator Katie Cunningham, CET is expected to develop a long-term transition and implementation plan for the next phase, which is expected to take up to three months.
A portion of the phase one analysis was already presented to IT in July and August.
The analysis evaluated the cost of implementing battery and/or fuel electric cell buses. CET considered the costs of purchasing the fleet, fuel and electricity needs, maintenance, and associated infrastructure.
The study found that a fleet of battery electric buses would cost IT an estimated $572 million if charging were only available at bus depots. This option was the cheapest and would allow IT to reduce 70,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
Installing additional chargers along bus routes would cost $615 million more, but would enable IT to reduce an equivalent of 108,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
A fleet of fuel-cell electric buses would cost $695 million. It would reduce an equivalent of 121,00 tons of carbon dioxide if the buses run on green hydrogen derived from renewable sources like wind and solar power. CTE informed IT that green hydrogen could be locally sourced from Puget Sound Energy by 2035 to 2040.
A mixed fleet of battery and fuel cell electric buses would cost $647 million.
If the fuel cell portion of the mixed fleet runs on grey hydrogen derived from natural gas or fossil fuel, this would lead to a reduction of 62,000 tons of carbon dioxide. Meanwhile, powering the fuel cell buses with blue hydrogen, which is produced from a more sustainable method of creating grey hydrogen, would allow IT to reduce an equivalent of 113,000 tons of carbon dioxide.
Almost all the options would allow IT to meet its zero-emission goals by 2050, except for a fleet of electric buses with charging only available at the depot and a mixed fleet with fuel cell buses that run on grey hydrogen.
If IT was to stay on its current fleet replacement plan, which only involves diesel buses, the agency would spend $475 million.
CTE said they would be returning this fall to present their final report, which would include analyses on dial-a-lift services, vanpools, and other non-revenue generating fleets, as well as a forecasting tool for greenhouse gases.
The project's final phase deals with the procurement and pilot deployment of the first electric buses. Documents prepared for the meeting indicate that IT has chosen to deploy five fuel-cell electric buses for the pilot program.
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