Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Vehicle Program: Present

Transcription

1 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Vehicle Program: Present Hugh A. Mose, General Manager January 21, 2013 Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) 2081 W. Whitehall Road, State College, PA (814) /

2 Our Service Area: Who IS CATA?

3 CATABUS Conventional City Bus Service: Eighteen routes focused on Downtown State College Four fare-free routes serve the Penn State Campus

4 CATARIDE Curb-to-Curb Transportation: Shared Ride for seniors ADA paratransit for persons with disabilities

5 CATACOMMUTE Services for Long-Distance Commuters: Carpool matching Vanpools Guaranteed Ride Home

6 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Vehicle Program

7 Why Did We Do It? In the Early 1990 s: CATA s entire bus fleet needed to be replaced The natural gas industry was promoting NGVs CATA was looking for a hook to attract funding

8 How Did We Get Started? Made the Big Decision: Future buses would be CNG-powered All in versus toe in the water Developed Funding Partnerships: Columbia Gas of PA PA Dept. of Environmental Protection Federal Transit Administration PennDOT Bureau of Public Transportation Local municipalities

9 1995 Construction started: CNG compressor, storage and dispensing facility Building modifications in Maintenance area Columbia Gas handled the entire project

10 1996 Things started rolling: CATA took delivery of its first 16 CNG buses Neighboring Uni-Mart agreed to dispense CNG to the public

11 How Did We Grow the Program? 1997, 1998, 2001, 2004 CATA purchased 34 more CNG-powered buses

12 1999 CATA needed additional fueling capacity: Acquired a third CNG compressor Donated by Columbia Gas Installed by CATA

13 2002, 2003 We enhanced our CNG fueling facility: Placed a canopy over the fueling island Installed a back-up CNG dispenser

14 2005 CATA completed the transition: Purchased two Ford CNG-fueled minibuses Achieved a 100% CNG bus fleet, one of the first transit systems on the East Coast

15 And What Did We Do Then? Research project: CATA and PSU s Larson Transportation Institute Converted a CNG bus to run on Hydrogen/CNG

16 Upgraded CATA s fueling facility: Replaced two of the original CNG compressors Added an integrated gas dryer

17 Expanded the fleet: Acquired ten used but still useful 35 CNG buses from Orlando Traded two of them for 40 buses from Indiana, PA

18 2012 Began to replace first generation buses: Purchased 28 New Flyer Xcelsiors Replaced 1996 Orions and 1997 Orlando New Flyers

19 So What s Involved? Fueling Station Storage Tanks Compressors Dispenser

20 So What s Involved? CNG Buses Clamshell Cowling Fuel Filler CNG Tanks

21 So What s Involved? Building Improvements Natural Gas Sensors Emergency Shut-off Switchgear

22 So What s Involved? Employee Buy-In Initial resistance gave way to skepticism, then tolerance, then support, now enthusiasm

23 What Are the Benefits? Public Support More well-received by the general public than any program in CATA s history!

24 What Are the Benefits? Energy Independence Over 90% of the natural gas America uses is domestically produced

25 What Are the Benefits? Locally Grown Fuel Even before Marcellus Shale, Centre County was a natural gas producing area

26 What Are the Benefits? Air Quality In terms of emissions, natural gas isn t perfect, but it s pretty darn good: Particulates are just about totally eliminated Hydrocarbons are greatly reduced However, NOx is slightly higher than with diesel

27 What Are the Benefits? $$$ Savings CATA s fuel costs savings = $1,000,000+ annually

28 What Are the Benefits? It s the Right Thing to Do! CATA is: Promoting energy independence Supporting the state s economy Helping to keep the air clean Saving money

29 What About the Numbers? Costs: Infrastructure - $2.0+ million invested Costs cost an extra $50,000+ each Impact on maintenance costs -??? Additional maintenance staffing 0.5 FTE Savings: Current CNG cost (including tax credit) is less than $0.25 per diesel gallon equivalent (DGE) Most recent diesel purchase = $3.37/gallon

30 What Did We Learn? We couldn t have done it alone Like any major transition, it takes time We paid the penalty for taking the lead There were a lot of surprises along the way It s critical to have good people who know what they re doing, or can learn quickly We survived simply because we had to CATA s CNG program has been one of our greatest success stories ever!

31 What Should You Think About? It s important to establish partnerships There s a lot to learn technically and otherwise It s going to take time Be prepared for surprises It s critical to have a champion If you re going to go with NGVs, make a full commitment

32 Where Does CATA Go From Here? Replacement of Gas Detection System Promoting CNG as a vehicle fuel Providing public access at Uni-Mart next door Serving local government at Ferguson Twp. Bldg. Supporting other community initiatives Continuation of the Alternative Fuel Tax Credit CNG Tank Replacements Future Vehicle Acquisitions CNG powered Cutaways CNG powered service vehicles CNG-electric hybrid buses

33 And What About Safety? Our one incident had a happy ending

34 Questions? Hugh A. Mose, General Manager January 18, 2013 Centre Area Transportation Authority (CATA) 2081 W. Whitehall Road, State College, PA (814) /