FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Leaders from transit, schools, universities, and airports will gather in Denver for the premier conversation on electric buses.

ATLANTA (April 7^th, 2020) - The Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) is partnering with the Regional Transportation District (RTD) to host the 2020 International Zero Emission Bus Conference in Denver this September 16th-18th.

‍The industry-leading event will bring together hundreds of transportation leaders from around the world to explore the challenges, opportunities, and best practices involved in electrifying bus fleets.

The eighth annual conference, to take place at the Hilton Denver City Center, will encompass two days of zero-emission bus (ZEB) programming - including keynotes, panel sessions, break-out groups, and an expo - on Sept. 17th and 18th, with an optional ZEB 101 class available on Sept. 16th. Attendees can expect an engaging series of case studies and debates on the conference stage, as well as ample opportunities for networking and collaboration throughout the event. This year's conference will highlight the emergence of new markets, such as
electric school buses, airport shuttles, and university transport.

Bus operators across the country are increasingly turning to electric solutions. These clean vehicles offer many benefits but also bring many new considerations for fleet managers as they are not one-for-one replacements for conventional fossil fuel buses. Since 2011, CTE has hosted the ZEB Conference to educate industry professionals with practical information for making smart, informed electric bus and infrastructure decisions.

The transportation stakeholders attending the 2020 ZEB Conference will include fleet operators, vehicle manufacturers, utilities, hydrogen fuel and charging infrastructure providers, government agencies, and more. Last year's conference in San Francisco drew over 500 attendees from across the globe.

"With Xcel Energy striving to be a national leader in fleet electrification, I found CTE's ZEB Conference to be an excellent source of information on what to expect as fleet operators scale up their electric vehicle projects. I'm very pleased the conference will be in Colorado this year, and I look forward to connecting with the local school bus, commercial fleets, and transit operators in our service area." Xcel aims to reduce carbon emissions by 80% by 2030 and deliver 100% carbon-free electricity to customers by 2050.

Stacey Simms, a 2019 conference panelist and Senior Portfolio Manager of the Electric Vehicle Initiative for Denver's Xcel Energy

Denver's transit agency, RTD, has one of the largest electric bus fleets in the country, consisting of 36 zero-emission vehicles operating on the 16th Street Mall, a key downtown corridor. Its 9.45 million annual Free MallRide boardings represent 9% of RTD's yearly total. RTD is anticipating the arrival of 17 zero-emission buses in 2022 or 2023 through its current Low-No project, funded by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

At the state level, Colorado has taken impressive strides to encourage the implementation of zero-emission vehicles. In January 2019, Gov. Jared Polis announced his first executive order, "Supporting a Transition to Zero-Emission Vehicles." Subsequently, Colorado's Legislature has passed bills to support widespread fleet electrification, introduced incentives and investments to facilitate fleet transitions, and adopted a zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) rule requiring automakers to increase sales of ZEVs by 2030.

In addition, Colorado is leading the electric school bus (ESB) transition by prioritizing and supporting purchases of ESBs with funding programs from the VW settlement funds and Colorado's Regional Air Quality Council. West Grand School District in northern Colorado received a grant from Colorado's Regional Air Quality Council and donations from local electric utilities Middle Parks Electric and Tri-State G &T in February to purchase the state's first ESBs from Bluebird. A few other school districts around the state are expecting ESB deployments starting later this year.

The conference is now accepting abstracts and poster session proposals through the official conference website, zebconference.com. Event registration will open in June.

Platinum sponsors include Proterra, New Flyer, and Ballard Power Systems. For more sponsorship opportunities, including the ability to display a zero-emission vehicle during the conference expo, contact Niki Rinaldi El-Abd, at
[email protected].

Members of the media interested in obtaining credentials to cover the conference should contact Wendy Norena, at [email protected].

CTE is cognizant of the unprecedented circumstances that the recent COVID-19 pandemic represents. At this point, we are moving forward with the conference as planned but will continue to monitor the situation. CTE's first priority is the health and safety of our staff, partners, clients, and fellow zero-emission advocates.
CTE will issue a conference update in the event of necessary postponement or cancellation due to the coronavirus outbreak.

ABOUT CTE

The Center for Transportation and the Environment is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a mission to improve the health of our climate and communities by bringing people together to develop and commercialize clean, efficient, and sustainable transportation technologies. CTE has worked on over 200 projects and leveraged more than $570 million in local, state, federal, and private funding to move cutting edge technologies into the global energy and transportation marketplace. Learn more at www.cte.tv and follow us on Twitter @go_CTE

Lauren Justice/ CTE Development Director
[email protected]
/ 404-245-8589

ABOUT RTD

The Regional Transportation District develops, operates and maintains a public transportation system that meets the transit needs of close to 3 million people within an eight-county service area in the Denver Metro region. RTD's buses, rail lines, shuttles and additional services provide approximately 100 million annual passenger trips. For more information, visit rtd-denver.com, call 303-299-6000 and follow along on social media: www.facebook.com/RideRTD, @RideRTD on Twitter, @ridertd on Instagram and rideRTDco on YouTube. For the most current RTD news, visit the News Stop, at rtd-denver.com/news-stop.