The Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) was selected by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to provide technical assistance to transit agencies and school districts seeking aid in transitioning to zero-emission buses (ZEBs). NREL administers the program, which is funded by the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (Joint Office). The Joint Office provides technical assistance for the planning and implementation of zero-emission charging and fueling infrastructure as well as for zero-emission transit and school buses. Transit agencies and school districts apply for help through the Joint Office website. NREL fields the requests and determines which subcontractor is best suited to provide the services.
Work could include ZEB deployment support to transit agencies and school districts for components such as:
• Charging infrastructure, including siting, charge management, charging requirements for meeting daily route needs, and vehicle and charging infrastructure compatibility
• Route analysis, including the use of telematics and other data sources for tasks such as assessing auxiliary loads and regional efficiency impacts to support bus selection that meets fleet needs
• Utilities, including rate options and demand charges, vehicle-to-grid and interconnection needs, distributed energy resources, and equipment upgrades
• Other factors, such as facility upgrades, fleet transition planning, vehicle technologies, fire safety, ADA, and operational and maintenance considerations
• Documenting technical lessons learned related to electric transit and school bus deployments
CTE’s contract with NREL was approved in mid-October 2023. The contract is set up as a task-ordering agreement, with individual projects added as they are selected for funding. The base term is one year, with four one-year options. In November 2023, NREL held a kick-off call with CTE to outline the work scope and timeline for adding tasks to the contract. Since then, CTE has completed two fact sheets and has finalized a contract for transition planning services. More information about these tasks can be found in the project description on the next page of this publication.
