title
CC - CONSENT ITEM: Adoption of a Resolution Approving the Update to the Culver CityBus Innovative Clean Transit (ICT) Rollout Plan.
body
Meeting Date: September 23, 2024
Contact Person/Dept: Diana Chang, Chief Transportation Officer /Transportation
Department
Phone Number: (310) 253-6566
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No [X]
Attachments: Yes [X] No []
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - City Council (09/17/2024)
Department Approval: Diana Chang, Chief Transportation Officer (09/03/2024)
______________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the City Council adopt a Resolution approving the update to the Culver CityBus Innovative Clean Transit (ICT) Rollout Plan.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) Innovative Clean Transit (ICT) regulation requires all public transit agencies in the State of California to transition from conventional fossil-fueled buses (compressed natural gas, diesel, propane) to zero-emission buses (battery-electric or fuel cell electric) by 2040 and to create a Rollout Plan to guide this transition. The Rollout Plan is considered a living document and is meant to guide the implementation of a zero-emission fleet and help transit agencies work through many of the potential challenges and explore solutions.
Staff received authorization from Council on September 14th, 2020 to enter into a professional services agreement with the Center for Transportation and Environment (CTE). The agreement is for architectural and engineering services and the development of a long-term plan for the Transportation Department’s Battery-Electric Bus and Facility Electrification initiative. CTE is a nationally recognized non-profit organization that develops, promotes, and implements advanced transportation technologies, vehicles, and fuels that reduce environmental pollution and fossil fuel dependency. CTE’s project portfolio includes 61 projects with 41 transit properties throughout the country.
On September 20, 2021, the City Council adopted the Department’s first Rollout Plan which involved the transition of Culver City’s entire bus fleet to a 100% zero emission fleet.
Since the Rollout Plan was first adopted, City staff has been in communication with the CARB and was granted a 15-month extension for the submission of an updated resolution and a revised Rollout Plan, which includes further evaluation and planning work to ensure that the City’s submission more fully addressed both the City’s need for enhanced transit services, robust mitigation planning related to zero emission fleet resiliency and redundancy, service expansion in alignment with the 2045 General Plan goals, technology evolution, and financial sustainability.
Culver City Transportation staff have been working diligently with CTE and its subconsultants on conducting the various analyses that will help inform the Transit Zero Emission Master Plan. This update to the Rollout Plan specifically focused on the following analyses:
• Operational Review/Service Assessment - This task includes using real-world efficiency data to estimate the performance of zero-emission buses on Culver City routes. CTE creates nominal and strenuous efficiency estimates based on real-world data from zero-emission buses in use at agencies around the US. The analysis uses energy, odometer, and temperature data recorded by meters and sensors located on the buses. The data is filtered to exclude values recorded outside the range of Culver City’s climate and outside the range of average speeds of CCB’s routes. CTE uses statistical analysis on the resulting dataset to create efficiency estimates for nominal and strenuous conditions on CCB routes. The results of this task will provide estimated fuel efficiency, range, and daily energy requirements under various loading and battery degradation scenarios for battery electric buses and estimated fuel efficiency and range for fuel cell electric buses.
• Fleet Assessment - The City has provided CTE with a current fleet inventory, bus procurement, and bus disposal schedule. CTE has used this to develop a vehicle replacement schedule, as well as to calculate year-on-year costs of replacing existing buses, and expanding the fleet to accommodate expanded service needs based on available funding, infrastructure, and range requirements to meet operational demands.
• Fuel Assessment - This work product includes the use of ZEB performance data from the bus modeling and route simulations to analyze and forecast the expected performance on each block in Culver City’s service network to calculate daily energy requirements. This analysis shows different scenarios with varying levels of fuel consumption to estimate projected fuel costs over the life of the study.
• Maintenance Assessment - This work product involves an analysis of ZEB labor and maintenance costs and the cost impact of mid-life overhauls of major components.
• Facilities Assessment - Using the bus and fueling requirements as inputs, this task includes a comprehensive review of the multiple infrastructure scenarios to accommodate the transition to 100% ZEB fleet. Scenarios are analyzed based on feasibility, cost, operational impact, and variable mixed fleet scenarios. This section includes the final facility recommendation and the construction phasing and sequencing plan and details on utility upgrades necessary to meet increased energy demand at the existing Transportation Facility and provides key considerations for future, additional yard space.
• Total Cost of Ownership - The Total Cost of Ownership Assessment compiles and organizes the results from the Fleet, Fuel, Facilities and Maintenance assessments to show total and annual costs throughout the transition. It includes selected capital and operating costs of each transition scenario over the transition timeline.
• Resiliency and Redundancy - A Redundancy, Resilience, and Emergency Response (3R) Assessment investigated the new risks to the City’s ability to provide service during power outages or fuel disruptions and the ability to support required emergency response activities, such as community evacuation with a full ZEB fleet. The project team applied a risk assessment methodology to evaluate various adaptation measures that reduce risks from identified threats associated with a ZEB fleet. The effectiveness of adaptation measures was informed by factors such as cost, risk reduction capabilities, the City’s risk tolerances, facility constraints, and environmental impacts.
• Comprehensive Mobility Service Plan (CMSP) - fleet requirements associated with future transit service needs assumptions, in alignment with the 2045 General Plan, have been incorporated in the Rollout Plan assessments. These service needs will be further evaluated in the upcoming CMSP and may lead to future updates to the Rollout Plan and the Zero Emission Master Plan.
• Financial Forecasting - this assessment offers a forecast of the funding requirements necessary for implementing the zero-emission transition. The financial forecasting will play a crucial role in supporting the City’s future efforts to secure grant funds and in shaping the financial planning for this initiative.
Each of these analyses are inputs to the Department’s future Transit Zero Emission Master Plan, which is the primary output of the Transit Zero Emission Initiative. This plan will serve as a living document that guides the agency’s decision making regarding every facet of its transition to zero emission including but not limited to procurement, training, performance evaluation, data collection, facilities, and infrastructure.
The Rollout Plan is not a “project” under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, Sections 15060(c) and 15378(b). Future facility-related construction contemplated under the Rollout Plan would undergo separate environmental review.
This project with CTE will satisfy the CARB ICT requirements (Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 13 § 2023.1(d)) requiring each transit agency to submit a complete Zero-Emission Bus Rollout Plan (Rollout Plan), approved by its governing body, showing how it plans to achieve a full transition to zero-emission buses (ZEBs).
Staff recommends the City Council adopt a Resolution approving the update to the Culver CityBus ICT Rollout Plan (Attachment 1).
FISCAL ANALYSIS
There is no fiscal impact associated with adopting the Resolution approving the update to the Culver CityBus ICT Rollout Plan at this time. The Adopted Budget for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 includes $19.6 million for bus replacement in CIP No. PB001 (Capital Improvement Project - Bus Replacement) and $9.3 million for transportation facility electrification in CIP No. PB002 which can be found in the Capital Improvements section of the budget book under Fund 203 (Municipal Bus Fund). Additional funding will be needed in future fiscal years for the planned fleet transition. The Transportation Department will continue to seek funds from grants or other means of financial assistance to support the acquisition of fleet and to finance the infrastructure related to the transit zero emission initiative.
ATTACHMENTS
1. 2024-09-23_ATT_Proposed Resolution Approving the Update to the Culver CityBus ICT Rollout Plan (including the Plan attached as Exhibit A)
MOTIONS
That the City Council:
Adopt a Resolution approving the update to the Culver CityBus ICT Rollout Plan.