Foothill Transit will pursue returning 13 first-generation electric buses experiencing multiple mechanical problems at a cost of $5 million, the transit agency’s board voted on Friday, July 23.
The buses, required to last 12 years, have carried passengers mostly in Pomona and La Verne for about seven or eight years. They could be relinquished to the Federal Transit Administration with a check for the depreciated value, explained Doran Barnes, Foothill Transit executive director.
The agency has been a pioneer in swapping out compressed natural gas (CNG) buses for battery-electric ones, which reduces smog components and greenhouse gases that cause global climate change. But the agency is caught between FTA demands and the actual life of the buses. Also, the agency is one of the first in the state to begin fulfilling a state mandate for 100% zero-emission buses by 2040.
“With this first fleet, we have demonstrated a technical solution that for the most part has worked, but the economics behind it didn’t work,” said Barnes, during a board meeting that included a detailed report on the fleet of 32 electric buses that indicated up to 67% percent were not operating during 2019 and 2020 as maintenance costs rose.
Two of the oldest buses in question were bought around 2010 from Proterra, a South Carolina company that opened a manufacturing facility in City of Industry in 2017, meaning they would be due for retirement in 2022. But 11 of the fast-charge buses were purchased later and would not be eligible for retiring until 2026. At the time, electric buses were reported to cost about $775,000.
Retiring buses ahead of the federal schedule is just one option the agency is examining.
The agency also is considering asking for Congressional legislation that will lower the lifetime from 12 years to 10 or eight years for all electric buses funded by federal or state dollars. A third option is to ask the FTA to grant an exception on the lifetime requirement for Foothill’s electric buses — without penalties.
Fixing the older buses has become very difficult. Parts are not available and some buses have been sitting in the shop for months. One bus has been out of service for 275 days because parts were unavailable, according to a report from Roland Cordero, director of maintenance and vehicle technology.
One bus caught fire in January 2020. The fire came from the lower right front of the bus, near where the driver’s heater/defroster was located, spokesperson Felicia Friesema said in an email Friday. Originally, Friesema said the fire started at the charging dock as was reported but she said on Friday she was mistaken. Cordero confirmed during the meeting that the bus fire was not caused by a charging device.
The agency, which serves the San Gabriel Valley, parts of Los Angeles and western San Bernardino Valley, including a hub at the Montclair Transit Center, has been shuffling in some of its 341 CNG buses idled due to reduced ridership from the coronavirus pandemic. But as schools open up next month and ridership increases, it will become difficult to continue with that patch-work solution. Fixing the electric buses is expensive since they are no longer under warranty, Cordero reported.
“If we don’t meet that we are just bleeding money to get buses in operative conditions. We need some relief,” said Becky Shevlin, a Monrovia City council member and Foothill Transit executive board member.
Shevlin, along with board member Cory Moss, who also sits on the City of Industry City Council, wanted to seek federal legislation. Moss said the agency should be commended for early adoption of electric buses, not penalized.
“We were willing to take that plunge, take this on. This is the future. Battery-electric transportation is not going away; it is mandated. We need support,” Moss said.
Barnes said he would look into all options that will keep the agency moving ahead with clean-bus technology that does not place a prohibitive cost on taxpayers or its riders.
“This is a challenging space that others have not waded into,” he said.
John Walsh, senior vice president of Proterra, defended his company’s product and said earlier versions have led to a fifth generation e-bus that can travel 290 miles on a charge over hilly roads.
“The legacy of these buses being discussed today are an important part of history,” Walsh told the board. “That is not to say there haven’t been bumps in the road.”