PORTLAND, Ore. — C-TRAN is aiming to put together an entirely zero-emission fleet by 2043. The public transit agency in Clark County is about to start a new phase to reach its goal.
In June 2023, C-TRAN rolled out 10 all-electric buses on the roads. After the learning curve, the reviews have been largely positive.
"Our operators love driving those. We've had good customer feedback from our riders on the smoothness of the ride," said Tim Shellenberger, C-TRAN's chief maintenance officer.
C-TRAN maintains a fleet of 196 vehicles, covering 27 fixed bus routes across Clark County. More than half their buses are hybrid electric. Meeting the 2043 zero-emissions goal means moving more buses to greener fuels faster, so C-TRAN is going to pursue additional options.
And this is where hydrogen enters the picture. Reb Guthrie is a fueling infrastructure expert with global design firm Stantec.
"With the tools that are available to us today, hydrogen simply offers the ability to put more zero-emission energy on a vehicle than does electrification," Guthrie said.
The firm was contracted to build C-TRAN's hydrogen fueling station at their hub on Northeast 65th Avenue in Vancouver.
"We're at 90% design of our liquid delivered hydrogen filling station that will accommodate offtake for gaseous hydrogen as well," Shellenberger said.
Guthrie explained that the fueling options provide supply resiliency.
"Not having all of your supply eggs in one basket improves reserves and product availability. Secondarily, this can also reduce commodity costs," Guthrie said. "C-Tran can favor purchasing whichever type (LH2 of GH2) is less expensive at a given time."
The fueling infrastructure will be built on the southeast corner of C-TRANs hub, an area that's currently a fenced-off grass field. While it's not certain precisely when C-TRAN will roll out new buses using hydrogen fuel, they plan to have the fueling center open sometime in 2026.
"When we do open our fueling facility, yes, it is going to be on C-TRAN property, but we are also part of the Northwest Interagency Cooperative. So we share resources within our state, city and local municipalities." Shellenberger said. "That gives them an opportunity, if they wanted, to also purchase some zero-emission vehicles, whether it be for their trucks, whatever their vocation is, we'll have a fueling station really available that they could purchase at our cost and fuel up here."
For its part, TriMet also has plans to roll out fuel cell buses, though the timeline is not yet public. We’re going to be hearing more about the potential benefits of hydrogen; the Pacific Northwest stands to get about $1 billion of federal infrastructure money as energy experts work to establish several hydrogen fueling centers across Washington, Oregon and Montana. Successful implementation could reduce regional greenhouse gas emissions by 1.7 million metric tons annually, which is equivalent to removing more than 400,00 cars from the road.