The Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) partnered with the Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit District (MetroLINK) for key performance indicator (KPI) reporting following MetroLINK’s initial deployment of eight Proterra 40’ battery electric buses (BEBs). CTE coordinated the procurement and installation of ViriCiti data loggers for the buses and held a KPI workshop with MetroLINK in October 2020.
CTE’s initial KPI reporting period was November 2020 – November 2021. During this period, CTE and MetroLINK worked together to develop streams for operational, maintenance, and cost data related to the agency’s BEBs and its rooftop solar array. CTE then processed, analyzed, and visualized this data in detailed reports, which CTE delivered to MetroLINK monthly. Additionally, CTE developed metrics to compare the performance of MetroLINK’s BEBs to that of its diesel and compressed natural gas (CNG) fueled bus fleets.
In October 2021, April 2022, March 2023, and January 2024, CTE and MetroLINK amended the project to add a transition planning study task and to extend the KPI reporting period through November 2024.
CTE has completed all of its transition planning study deliverables. These deliverables included: an analysis of MetroLINK’s transfer centers to determine how adding on-route charging infrastructure to each would expand BEB service for each of the eight communities that the agency serves; an assessment of possible rooftop solar arrays installed at each transfer center that estimated the potential energy generation and emissions reductions of each; a route-by-route analysis of the potential environmental, social justice, and economic impacts of deploying BEBs; a resilience assessment; a study comparing the projected lifetime costs of MetroLINK’s BEBs, CNG buses, and diesel buses; an analysis of how shifting battery technology will affect MetroLINK’s charging infrastructure needs; and a final report, delivered in April 2023, which incorporated all of CTE’s analyses into a compendium that is intended to help guide MetroLINK through an effective BEB transition.
CTE’s KPI reporting work is due to continue through the end of 2024. The KPI reports now cover 17 MetroLINK BEBs, including nine which were deployed in 2022.
