Municipal Project Spotlight

City of Glendale Non-Bus Fleet Transition Plan

The Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) led an effort on behalf of the City of Glendale to study the feasibility, expected greenhouse gas reductions, and anticipated high-level cost for transition of all gasoline, diesel, and compressed natural gas non-bus fleets to zero-emission vehicles. The study identified the costs, performance issues, risks, and recommended procurement timeline regarding transitioning to the City of Glendale’s long-term goal of operating a fully zero-emission fleet. CTE collected, reviewed, and evaluated data on the city fleet’s operations.
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One goal of the study was to assess both the vehicles and the anticipated charging stations required to support the fleet. The study assessed the suitability of currently available battery electric vehicle models for light-duty vehicles, medium-duty vehicles, heavy-duty vehicles, pursuit vehicles, and non-road engines. CTE also prepared a market overview of suitable charging station options which included available models, considerations for interfacing between the chargers and the vehicles, and sample costs.

Upon completion of the feasibility analysis, the project team developed a strategy to guide the deployment of electric vehicles. CTE worked with the city’s project team to ensure the transition strategy not only met the city’s goals but was also targeted at achieving electrification during the deployment timeline.

CTE’s assessments of zero-emission vehicle options, charging infrastructure, and transition planning recommendations provided the City of Glendale with a comprehensive strategy to maximize emissions reduction by employees, the general public, and potentially other electric vehicle operators through optimization of its charging infrastructure. The strategy included funding opportunities for local governments in California, including local utility programs, state-funded zero-emission vehicle incentive programs, and programs administered by the local air quality management district. CTE presented the final report to the City Council in September. Based on the City Council feedback, CTE was charged with another task to analyze an alternative scenario that would result in a full transition by 2040, and address hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and fueling infrastructure within the plan. The project is complete.