Making the move toward a 100 percent zero-emission fleet

Tahoe Transportation District Zero-Emission Fleet Conversion Plan

Transit agencies around the country are grappling with meeting emission reduction targets under tight budgets, all while striving to deliver high-quality service to their communities. Tahoe Transportation District (TTD), a bi-state transportation agency in the Lake Tahoe Basin of California and Nevada, provides transit services for both the California and Nevada sides of Lake Tahoe. They are registered as a Nevada agency and not required to transition their fleet to zero-emissions by 2040 like California agencies. However, as an agency serving California, and steward of climate-conscious practices, TTD is voluntarily embarking on a full fleet transition to 100 percent zero-emissions.

They turned to our team to provide zero-emission vehicle transition analysis and recommendations using our ZEVDecide™ program and process. We explored which zero-emission technology would be best for TTD and on which timeline, given the uncertainty of a new and much-needed operations and maintenance facility and limited capital investment funding. We worked within TTD’s constraints to design a plan that met community and other key party feedback, considered their in-development short-range transportation plan (also being led by one of our teams) and a potential future ferry service, and balanced goals from both California and Nevada.

TTD chose to pursue a 100 percent battery-electric fleet with additional on-route charging locations throughout their service area to leverage existing investments in battery-electric vehicles and infrastructure. Now, TTD and their partners have the analyses they need to make informed decisions and implement their zero-emission transition plan.