SunLine Transit seventh-generation hydrogen fuel cell bus made possible because of the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) National Fuel Cell Bus Program (NFCBP). (Credit: SunLine Transit)Federal Transit Administrator (FTA) Peter Rogoff visited BAE Systems’ HybriDrive Solution facility in Endicott, N.Y., this week to share the news that $13.6 million in federal funding is being dedicated to advance the commercialization of American-made fuel cell buses for the transit industry.
Eight projects were selected to receive funds through the FTA’s National Fuel Cell Bus Program, which has provided nearly $90 million since 2006 to speed the development of fuel cell technology by tapping American innovation and bringing more opportunities to American manufacturers.
Representatives from Ballard Power Systems, the State of New York, Broome County Transit, Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit, Binghamton University, Cornell University, and CALSTART were also on-hand to participate in an energy roundtable discussion and tour of BAE Systems’ HybriDrive Solutions hybrid propulsion manufacturing operations floor, test labs, and garage.
Of the $13.6 million allotted for these eight projects, BAE Systems is a manufacturing partner to three of them—outlined below:
• $2.7 million will be granted to build a next-generation fuel cell bus for the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority in Ohio. BAE Systems is partnering with ElDorado National in Riverside, Calif., and Ballard Power Systems in Lowell, Mass., on this project.
• A grant of $4.2 million will be dedicated to develop and demonstrate a battery-dominant fuel cell bus based on a commercial hybrid platform and smaller fuel cells for the SunLine Transit Agency in Thousand Palms, Calif.: BAE Systems is also partnering with ElDorado National on this project.
• $3.1 million will be allotted to build a next-generation fuel cell bus that can operate in cold climates for the Tompkins Consolidated Transit Authority in Ithaca, N.Y., which will be a collaboration between Ballard Power Systems, ElDorado National and BAE Systems.
