Transit agencies face major issues that could slow down the transition to ZEBs. The Association is teaming up with state agencies to better address high costs, infrastructure needs, workforce training, funding sources, and more.
By Arianna Smith
Managing Editor
Transit California
Association staff and expert members continue to work hard to ensure that member agencies can get the support they need to meet state deadlines set for purchasing zero emissions buses (ZEBs).
Under the 2018 Innovative Clean Transit (ICT) regulation approved by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), California’s operating transit buses must use 100% zero emissions technologies by 2040. However, two deadlines are arriving much sooner for the state’s transit agencies: by January 1, 2026, large agencies must make 50% of their new bus purchases ZEBs and small agencies must make 25% of their new bus purchases ZEBs; by 2029, all new bus purchases by all agencies must be ZEBs.
When the regulation went into effect in 2018, then-Chair of CARB Mary Nichols said [of the new rules], “A zero-emission public bus fleet means cleaner air for all of us. It dramatically reduces tailpipe pollution from buses in low-income communities and provides multiple benefits, especially for transit-dependent riders. Putting more zero-emission buses on our roads will also reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases and provides cost savings for transit agencies in the long run.”
Seven years later, California transit agencies with bus operations have been procuring and deploying ZEBs to meet looming ICT deadlines, and the transition to ZEBs is a critical part of the state’s plan to achieve net zero carbon pollution by 2045 and to slow climate change. ZEBs don’t use traditional fossil fuels and don’t emit tailpipe pollution. Instead, they are powered by rechargeable electric or hydrogen fuel cell batteries. According to the US Department of Transportation, each ZEB reduces carbon emissions by 270,000 pounds per year, compared to buses powered by diesel or compressed natural gas.
In spite of high costs for ZEB procurement and related ZEB preparation activities, transit agencies are racing to procure new buses, build charging and refueling infrastructure, train their employees on the new technologies and systems, and secure reliable funding sources. For more information about how California transit agencies are making the switch from fossil fuel powered buses to ZEBs, see Transit California’s 2023 article.
Still, staff at the Association, as well staff at member agencies, have for years expressed concerns to the Governor’s Administration that agencies will struggle to meet the approaching deadlines without dedicated funding, a forum for dialogue, or a formal set of goals and commitments from the state.
“[Our] interest is only to ensure that we do not place California transit agencies in the untenable position of moving faster on the transition to ZEBs than technology, funding availability, and external institutional support would allow,” said the Association’s Executive Director, Michael Pimentel, in a 2022 letter to CARB leadership. “Doing so would have the counterproductive consequence of compromising the quality and availability of vital transit service, which we know is critical to meeting the state’s highest order environmental objectives.”
The letter was just the start of an extensive, multiyear advocacy effort to bring together a formal forum amongst state and agency leadership regarding successful ZEB deployment under the ICT regulation. The Association sent it in response to the ICT’s Phase 1 Comprehensive Review, delineated the barriers faced by transit agencies in attempting to implement the ICT regulation. At the time, the Association filed a request with CARB to establish an executive-level ICT regulation working group alongside other relevant state entities to identify and troubleshoot challenges in real time; Association leadership also engaged directly with CARB board members and executive staff. In 2024, the Association made the Task Force establishment a key advocacy priority. CARB Executive Officer Steve Cliff and Pimentel worked together on a mutually agreeable framework, which was later blended with a separate effort with other state entities involved in funding and technical support for ZEB deployments.
In late 2024, the proposed working group became a reality. The group convened as the Interagency & Transit ICT ZEB Task Force (Task Force), and its work will be critical to securing the relief Association member agencies need under existing ICT implementation plans.
The Interagency & Transit ICT ZEB Task Force
The Task Force’s Transit Agency Representative Duty Statement outlined the urgent and undeniable need for coordinated action between the state and transit agencies currently and in the coming years as the ZEB transition deadlines approach: “Despite transit agencies’ early commitments, substantial funding, and technology improvement, transit agencies are still facing significant challenges that could slow down their transition to ZEBs. Effective collaboration among state agencies and transit agencies is essential to overcome the remaining barriers, such as the significant cost of procuring and operating ZEBs, long lead time for infrastructure, need for standardized workforce training, and streamlined funding processes.”
The Task Force is currently evaluating a series of draft Action Items prepared by state entities, intended to respond to the needs of Association members in ZEB procurement and deployment under ICT guidelines. The Task Force is currently evaluating a series of draft Action Items prepared by state entities, intended to respond to the needs of Association members in ZEB procurement and deployment under ICT guidelines. In their initial communications with the Task Force, Association members have urged that the Task Force focus on establish dedicated funding streams for the ZEB transition and work on streamline utility projects necessary to build charging infrastructure. Additional priorities will be discussed by the Task Force in the coming weeks.
Task Force leadership emphasizes that the ZEB Task Force does not replace or sidestep the Transit Transformation Task Force, which is also set to release a comprehensive report in Fall 2025. According to the Duty Statement, the ZEB Task Force is limited to “ZEB specific issues such as infrastructure lead time, funding streamlining, cost containment, etc. while the latter has a legislative obligation to develop policy recommendations to grow transit ridership and improve the transit experience for all users of those services.”
Who is serving on the Task Force?
The Task Force is a joint effort between several state entities and Association member agencies, and its work is now underway through 2025.
State entity members include principal-level state agency leadership and key staff from the three Co-Chairs of the Task Force: CARB, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) and the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Task Force membership includes leadership from the California Energy Commission (CEC), the California Transportation Commission (CTC), the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).
Doran Barnes, CEO of Foothill Transit and Chair of the Association’s ZEV Task Force, is leading the Association’s work on the ZEB Task Force. He is co-leading the effort with Rick Ramacier, retired General Manager of County Connection and Chair of the California Association of Coordinated Transportation (CALACT)’s Legislative Committee.
Three large agency members serve on the Task Force: Mike Wygant, Chair of the Association’s Maintenance Committee and COO of San Diego MTS; Sal Llamas, Director of Maintenance at AC Transit; and Darrell Johnson, CEO of OCTA. They are joined by five small agency members: Bill Churchill, General Manager of County Connection; Amy Hance, Deputy General Services Director at the City of Clovis; Greg Pratt, General Manager at the Humboldt Transit Authority; Carl Sedoryk, CEO of Monterey-Salinas Transit; and Dustin Strandberg, Chief Maintenance Officer of Victor Valley Transit Authority.
What’s next?
The Task Force’s first meeting was held in March 2025, and the next meeting will be held alongside the Association’s Legislative Spring Conference in early May. Staff will meet monthly, and the Task Force will continue to meet quarterly throughout 2025. Deliverables from identified priority Action Items will be incorporated into, and will support, the ICT Phase 2 Comprehensive Review with a report anticipated to be released in Fall 2025, and in the Zero-Emission Bus Scale-up Effect Study, with a report due in Spring 2028. Ultimately, the Association will work within the Task Force to secure support and relief for member agencies as they comply with the ICT regulation and work toward 100% ZEB deployment in their communities.