The Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) has partnered with Greater Bridgeport Transit (GBT) and the Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) for a successful award under the Federal Transit Administration Low or No Emission Program (Low-No). CTE is providing project management and technical assistance as GBT deploys five 40’ Proterra battery electric buses (BEBs). Technical assistance for the project includes bus and route modeling for several different vehicle configurations and routes (including evaluating the need for auxiliary heat), support during technical specification development for vehicles and chargers, coordination with GBT’s engineering consultant regarding electrical and charging system design and safety review, completion of Buy America audits, and periodic quality inspections during bus fabrication. CTE has also supported GBT in multiple community and legislative outreach activities throughout the project.
The project was split into two separate phases due to delays associated with completion of Altoona testing for the Proterra 40’ 660 kWh ZX-5 bus. GBT elected to purchase two 40’ Proterra Catalyst E2 440 kWh buses and installed two depot chargers to gain insight into impacts on training, maintenance, and operations before deploying the three longer range 660 kWh vehicles during the second phase. The first two vehicles entered revenue service in January 2021. CTE helped GBT monitor the in-service buses by providing bi-weekly reports of performance and quarterly key performance indicator (KPI) reports. However, revenue service and CTE’s reporting services were paused in July 2022 to allow for the investigation of a Connecticut Transit (CTtransit) bus fire at the CTtransit Hamden facility. CTE prepared an interim final report reflecting activities completed during Phase I of the project and preparation for Phase II. Now, all five BEBs are in revenue service and the project has resumed. CTE has begun collecting data to create a KPI dashboard so that GBT can monitor the performance of all five vehicles throughout the remaining duration of the project.
CTE and GBT worked together with Wendel, GBT’s engineering consultant, and United Illuminating, the local electrical utility, to complete planning for the installation of the remaining chargers to support the deployment of three Proterra 660 kWh ZX-5 vehicles. CTDOT and CTtransit technical staff have participated in all-team activities (e.g., goal setting, model result review, etc.) to further their knowledge of BEB deployments and to translate this into future efforts by CTDOT and CTtransit.
