President Biden's plan effectively prioritizes climate and air pollution solutions by supporting medium- and heavy-duty vehicle electrification.
President Biden's American Jobs Plan proposes much-needed support for the electrification of medium- and heavy-duty transportation sectors, including transit buses, shuttles, school buses, and port vehicles. CTE applauds the Biden Administration's attention to these critical transportation sectors. More than 25% of transportation-based greenhouse gas emissions come from medium- and heavy-duty vehicle markets, yet these vehicles comprise less than 5% of total vehicles on the road. Setting goals and directing funding to these sectors will be an effective use of government resources when it comes to combating climate change and rebuilding our economy.CTE has been working diligently for years to move the transit market toward zero-emissions while also finding ways to replicate the success of transit electrification in other medium- and heavy-duty transportation sectors. The American Jobs Plan reflects this same ambition with proposals to electrify school buses, increase multimodal access to airports, and promote healthy air in communities surrounding our nation's ports. Fortunately, lessons learned from the transit market and from CTE's cutting edge work in these areas can provide valuable foundations from which to achieve the goals laid out in the Plan.
Continued progress to 100% clean transit
At CTE, we believe that the transit industry will be the first transportation sector to completely eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. We are excited to see that President Biden's plan to replace 50,000 diesel transit vehicles will build upon the incredible work to date from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and will continue this progress toward 100 percent clean transit. FTA programs like the National Fuel Cell Bus Program and the Low or No Emissions Vehicle Program have been instrumental in this progress and provide a robust, tested model to follow for the new programs proposed by the Biden Administration.
Critical federal support for electric school buses
Following such a model will be useful, as the American Jobs Plan doesn't limit zero-emission ambition to transit buses. The American Jobs Plan sets a goal to electrify 20 percent of the nation's yellow school buses and proposes the Clean Buses for Kids program. School bus electrification is vitally important not only to combating climate change but also to preserving the health of our children and communities. Yet electrifying school bus fleets presents different challenges than electrifying transit buses. There is currently no federal agency to support the purchase of school buses like the Federal Transit Administration does for zero-emission transit buses, making President Biden's proposal all the more important. CTE has explored these challenges and the future of student transportation via the Electric School Bus Webinar Series. Much of the knowledge compiled in this series derived from our work providing technical assistance to Stockton Unified School District and others seeking to deploy electric school buses. Federal support in this arena is a critical step to expanding this work to school districts around the country.
Improving ports, helping communities
Like school buses, diesel-powered port equipment and drayage trucks that move freight to and from ports greatly increase local air pollution. The proposed Healthy Ports program in the American Jobs Plan is intended to mitigate these impacts to surrounding neighborhoods, which are often marginalized communities. While the details of this program are yet to be revealed, zero-emission vehicles are a necessary component of clean-air ports. CTE has worked with ports and vehicle manufacturers to develop, test, and demonstrate zero-emission vehicle technologies for use in various port operations and is ready to continue the commercialization process for these vehicles. CTE's projects include wirelessly charged electric top loaders and hydrogen-powered fuel cell drayage trucks that operate in some of our nation's busiest ports.
Clean air for airports
While the American Jobs Plan is less detailed about plans for zero-emission airport vehicles specifically, it does propose a new program to support "multimodal connections for car-free access to air travel." One could expect that zero-emission vehicles would figure prominently in this new program. Airport shuttles operate on fixed routes, with low average speed, in stop-and-go operations, and maintain long hours; in sum, airport shuttle operations, like transit, are particularly suited to battery electric zero-emission vehicles. The U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Cities program even identified airport ground transportation as a "key niche market for the use of alternative fuel vehicles." All of this prior analysis points to the fact that zero-emission vehicles are the obvious choice for expanding access to air travel. CTE has in fact already completed two deployments of zero-emission ground service equipment and is exploring projects that could provide airports with traffic congestion management and on-route charging infrastructure. At the same time, CTE has been advocating for federal support of zero-emission airport vehicles by supporting the reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration's VALE and ZEV programs.Although negotiations on this legislation continue, CTE is readying itself to contribute to the vitally important work being proposed for these transportation market segments. CTE has provided technical assistance, project management, and deployment support for zero-emission transit buses, school buses, and other fleet vehicles. We know from experience that transitioning to zero-emission fleets in these sectors is possible with the right support and coordinated efforts. We also know that the benefits reach far beyond the jobs created by this transition: cleaner air, climate change mitigation, and a better world for our children and grandchildren. We look forward to getting to work on these new programs for the sake of our climate and communities.
