Comment Log Display

PROPOSED FISCAL YEAR 2015-16 FUNDING PLAN FOR LOW CARBON
TRANSPORTATION INVESTMENTS AND THE AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
 
School Buses in Rural School Districts: School buses in rural
school districts may include fuel cell and battery electric
zero-emission school buses, plug-in hybrid school buses with the
ability to operate in zero-emission only mode in disadvantaged
communities, and internal combustion school buses or hybrid school
buses operating on renewable fuels, such as biodiesel, renewable
diesel, or renewable natural gas. While any diesel powered school
bus can operate on biodiesel, there are several manufacturers and
conversion companies (Thomas and Bluebird) producing school buses
that operate on natural gas, including renewable natural gas.
 
STAFF PROPOSAL FOR FY 2015-16 Due to the significant amount of
early interest and the strong possibility that high quality project
applications for the FY 2014-15 funding cycle will exceed the
allotted $25 million, staff proposes an additional $65 million for
FY 2015-16 for Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Pilot Commercial
Deployments Projects, with $45 million allocated to buses and $20
million for trucks as shown in Table 21. Staff proposes separating
bus and truck funding to better ensure that project applicants are
competing against like projects, and to ensure that both technology
markets are supported. Staff also proposes to set aside $5 million
from the bus allocation to provide incentives for school buses in
rural school districts. Funding at this level is needed to increase
vehicle production levels to the point where initial economies of
scale can start to be realized. Staff anticipates strong fleet
demand for this funding based on input received during the Funding
Plan development process.