FACILITY PLANNING
“Electric vehicles are the wave
of the future,” said Darla Smith,
facilities manager, RTD. “Proterra
came to us and said, ‘We would
like us to be the pilot and we will
pay for the transformer infrastructure
and all of the parts and pieces
to have you test out two buses that
we will also give to you.’
“We were very excited to be a
part of a pilot and being energy
effi cient. It was a win-win all the
way around.”
Th e agency did not need to
construct an entire new facility,
rather they adapted theirs.
“We did have to put in a new
transformer to accommodate the
power needs. Th ere was underground
trenching that needed
to be done to accommodate the
wiring. We weren’t able to use
our existing canopies to hold the
overhead chargers,” said Smith.
“Next to our building there was a
transformer. We tunneled under
two loading drive aisles to put in
the conduit for the overhead charger
and beyond that we put in the
above-ground compressor brain,
which is how the charger works.”
Once installing the chargers
and transformers, Smith said RTD
didn’t need to install anything additional
within the facility.
Under the current pilot program
with PG&E, RTD will
have its facilities adapted. The
existing site, where the planned
facility is set, there is already the
utility easements in place.
“PG&E will put in the trench,
they will put in new transformers
and they will stub up the diesel
chargers and we will have the
diesel chargers placed over the
stubs. Infrastructure-wise it is
all very minimal, it’s all underground
...” said Smith. “RTD
plans to get five deport chargers.
When the depot chargers
are placed, RTD will purchase
the diesel chargers and then be
reimbursed by PG&E.”
Smith said that the basic costs
will just be the cost of bringing in
an electrician.
SAN JOAQUIN
RTD put
in a new
transformer to
accommodate
power needs
and did
underground
trenching to
accommodate
electric wiring.
SAN JOAQUIN
RTD needed to
install electric
vehicle chargers
overhead in the
bus bays.
32 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | JULY/AUGUST 2018
“We have the land and the area
is available; it is currently where we
park our electric buses,” said Smith.
Ken Anderson, principal, transit
sector leader, buildings, for
Stantec, said going electric doesn’t
have the same cost impact than it
does to convert a facility to CNG.
“On the electric side, it’s really a
space issue,” he said, as vehicles
are typically charged overnight.
A hydrogen future
Th e Champaign-Urbana Mass
Transit District (MTD) was
awarded a $1.45 million competitive
Federal Transit Administration
(FTA) grant for the purchase
of no-emission hydrogen fuel cell
electric buses and the infrastructure
to go alongside the buses. Th e
grant was awarded in September
2017, and once completed, MTD
will be the fi rst agency in the state
of Illinois to add fuel cell electric
buses to its fl eet.
“We are in the planning phase,
planning for the buses, the facility
modifi cations and the infrastructure.
We know that we won’t have
to expand the facilities, but we will
make modifi cations,” said Jane
Sullivan, grant manager & sustainability
planner, MTD.
Sullivan said MTD has planned
to order two 60-foot articulated
buses that are expected to be delivered
in 2020. MTD had to address
areas that would typically be
present in a CNG or diesel facility.
“Th e areas that we really need to
look at are the HVAC. Any heating
equipment that uses open fl ames
would have to go away. We’re also
looking at the exhaust systems that
we have,” said Kirk Kirkland, facilities
director, MTD. “Hydrogen
is much lighter than air; the area
that we concentrate on most is the
top 18 inches below the roof. You
need to make sure that we don’t
have envelopes or pockets where,
if hydrogen gets out, it can hang
into or hold into. We want to make
sure that if we do have a leak, we
can exhaust it out of the building
pretty quickly.”
Kirkland said that fi re is the
biggest concern. MTD will speak
to the local emergency, fi re and police
departments to alert them of
the special needs of the facility. In
the event that an emergency were
to occur, the departments would
be able to respond eff ectively.
“Th e tough thing is, is that if
you actually have a fi re that the
hydrogen is feeding, there is no
visible fl ame. We’ll need to add
some fi re detectors to make sure
that we can locate the fl ame if
there is one,” said Kirkland.
Kirkland said MTD took into
consideration what modifi cations
needed to be made. “We looked at
a couple of diff erent things; if we
want to compartmentalize a couple
areas and keep the buses there.
Or, as we’re looking at expanding
the fl eet to more fuel cells, we can
just doing the entire facility.”
Factoring in cost
With MTD’s transition, the FTA
grant does not cover the full cost
of the facility modifi cation and
addition of buses.
“We think of it as an investment.
Th ese are the types of
modifi cations that agencies need
to make if they are adding CNG
buses. Th ese types of changes to
the facility aren’t outrageous or
unheard of,” said Sullivan. “We
believe in and work toward introducing
new vehicles.”
RTD
RTD
By the
Numbers
$1.45M
FTA grant awarded
to MTD for the
purchase of
hydrogen fuel cell
electric buses
2
60-foot
articulated buses
are planned to
go into service
in 2020
/MassTransitmag.com