Working with a leader in ecofriendly transportation

Gold Coast Transit District Zero-Emission Bus Rollout Plan

Gold Coast Transit District (GCTD) currently maintains and operates a fleet of 111 vehicles comprised of buses, paratransit vehicles and non-revenue vehicles. In response to California Air Resources Board mandate that all transit agencies need to be 100% zero emission by 2040, these vehicles needed to be replaced with a more ecofriendly option—we were there to help.

Our team started the project with a site visit to GCTD’s new facility to document operational, maintenance, and planning practices, as well as to evaluate the facility for preparedness for ZEB transition. We conducted an existing condition review as well as a market scan to understand the needs of GCTD as it relates to service delivery and operations. Our team used ZEVDecide, our proprietary tool for bus modeling and route simulation, to estimate the fuel economy and feasibility of battery-electric buses (BEBs) and hydrogen fuel-cell electric buses (FCEBs) for GCTD’s operations. Our analysis discovered that while BEBs could be feasible, their adoption would require a complex mix of different BEBs with different battery sizes, constraining flexibility, and operations. FCEBs, under modeling conditions, were able to achieve full service in a 1-to-1 fashion and adopting a hydrogen solution also facilitates paratransit and on-demand vehicle transition, given the large range these vehicles operate.

Upon completion of their project, GCTD will have an ecofriendly fleet they can be proud of.