The Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) partnered with RTS for three successful awards under the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Low or No Emission Vehicle Program (Low-No). CTE worked with Gainesville Regional Transit System (RTS) to deploy three 40’ GILLIG battery electric buses (BEBs) with ChargePoint Express Plus charging infrastructure. One additional 40’ GILLIG BEB and charge dispenser was deployed under the 2020 award.
For the first three buses deployed, CTE performed route, charge, and rate modeling for two potential routes to help RTS plan for an effective deployment. CTE also completed Buy America Audits for those vehicles. This project was unique in that it involved bus and charger models that were new to the market, so CTE updated the original models as designs were finalized. CTE also advised on a charger configuration to optimize charging for the three vehicles.
After the vehicles were delivered, CTE completed performance confirmation tests and then tracked key performance indicators (KPIs) as part of a year-long deployment validation effort.
As a result of the success of the initial engagement, RTS decided to continue the partnership with CTE by successfully applying for a 2020 Low-No grant. This funded an additional scope of work for CTE associated with deploying the fourth vehicle, including updating charge and rate models, an additional Buy America Pre-Award Audit, pre-deployment performance confirmation, and an extension of deployment validation for another year.
CTE completed the last KPI report for the 2017 Gainesville project at the end of August 2022. The fourth bus was delivered Q3 2022 and was put into service in November 2022. CTE completed the Buy America Pre-Award Audit, updated the charge and rate modeling analysis, and completed the validation testing of the fourth bus in December 2022. In December 2023, CTE completed a full year of KPIs to assess the performances of all four BEBs.
