Trucks Clips: August 23, 2024

 

 

California

 

Op-Ed: What L.A. Needs To Produce A (Nearly) Zero-Emission Olympic Games — According to Matt Petersen and Mary Nichols, “The next president must call on more manufacturers to build electric buses, directing inflation reduction Act and CHIPS Act tax incentives to the effort. Congress must appropriate matching funds to cover the purchase of at least a third of the supplemental buses — all zero emission — needed for the Games. Later, these buses would be distributed to transit systems around the country at a reduced cost. To provide charging for these buses, local, utility and state incentives can be leveraged by private sector investment. Additionally, more federal funding from the departments of Energy and Transportation can help L.A.’s school districts, ports and utility companies build out charging stations. These would include temporary and mobile stations as well as distributed clean power networks (solar, battery storage, etc.) that will charge buses at schools and transit hubs, cars at mobility hubs and trucks near the ports…. The expanded EV and clean-energy infrastructure for electric buses, trucks and cars that would come from these efforts will clean L.A.’s air long after the Games, and make the 2028 Olympics a zero-emissions model for other cities to emulate. And it would create jobs and economic investment. The 2028 Games could have no better legacy than hastening L.A.’s and the nation’s zero-emissions future.” [Los Angeles Times, 8/23/24 (+)]

 

Michigan

 

18 More Electric School Buses Coming To Dearborn Public Schools — “Throughout the years, the Michigan Department of Education has made grant funds available for schools to buy electric buses. And while the ride on these buses are smooth, change can be a bumpy ride. The Dearborn Public School District currently has one electric school bus, but come this fall, 18 additional electric buses will be added to the fleet. However, they were awarded the money for the buses in 2022. ‘All of these things do take some time,’ David Mustonen, the Communications Director for Dearborn Public Schools told WXYZ-TV. ‘So it has been about a two-year process.’ Part of making the ride smooth is a good charge. Dearborn Public Schools is currently installing the infrastructure; however there is concern about having charging stations elsewhere. ‘If we take a bus on a long field trip somewhere, are we going to be able to charge that bus when it gets there or is it going to be able to make that trip there and back?’ Mustonen said. ‘These are all the things that we are figuring out.’” [The Arab American News, 8/23/24 (=)]

 

Oregon

 

TriMet Rolls Out 24 New Electric Buses, Tripling The Number In Their Fleet — “In a major step toward TriMet’s ambitious goal to convert completely to a greener bus fleet by 2040, starting this week they are rolling out their newest electric buses. Most people FOX 12 spoke with who live in the Portland metro had high praise for the service TriMet provides. ‘Comfortable TriMet bus,’ said S. Dot, a Portlander. ‘In Hillsboro where I live, it’s perfect. It can’t get any better,’ said Jeannette Bardi, who lives nearby.” [KPTV-TV, 8/23/24 (+)]

 

TriMet’s BEBs Begin Service Throughout Portland, Ore. — “TriMet’s new battery-electric buses (BEB) have begun providing services to residents throughout Portland, Ore. The agency notes 24 next-generation BEBs are entering service with TriMet this year. The first BEB began welcoming riders aboard Line 9-Powell in July, offering a smooth, quiet and comfortable ride between downtown Portland and the Gresham Central Transit Center. The agency will roll out more new BEBs on more lines in the coming weeks. TriMet purchased the BEBs from GILLIG, a bus manufacturer headquartered in Livermore, Calif. GILLIG built the buses at its manufacturing facility in the San Francisco Bay Area and drove them about 650 miles up Interstate 5 to Portland earlier this year.” [Mass Transit Magazine, 8/22/24 (+)]

 

Washington

 

'Washington Is Not California': State's Truckers On 'Zero-Emission' Rules — “The Washington State Trucking Associations (WTA) this month penned a letter to Gov. Jay Inslee and the state’s legislature asking them to reconsider aligning with California’s Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation, which sets sales requirements for so-called ‘zero emissions’ (ZEV) trucks within the state, requiring an escalating percentage of trucks sold there to be ZEVs. In a detailed letter to Inslee, WTA President and CEO Sheri Call outlined numerous economic, operational, infrastructure and competitiveness concerns over the policy. ‘We feel these issues will place constraints on the industry and reduce supply chain resiliency in Washington state -- one of the most trade-driven states in the nation,’ Call wrote. ‘We don’t have to look back too far to understand the impact of shortages of goods and medical supplies during the pandemic as a result of trucking industry labor and equipment shortages. Imagine the negative impact to affordability in our state and to any environmental gains if trucks are dispatched to Washington from further away. This is a reality we are faced with under the ACT policy.’” [Overdrive, 8/23/24 (=)]

 

 

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