Why is Santa Cruz County so bullish on hydrogen-powered public transit?

[Caribbeans]

Santa Cruz Metro recently made the largest single purchase of hydrogen buses in the country.

Why is Santa Cruz County so bullish on hydrogen-powered public transit?

Lookout Santa Cruz | CHRISTOPHER NEELY | Oct 2, 2023

As Mike Rotkin tells it, until recently, hydrogen never crossed his mind for powering public transit buses. And, as a regional transportation commissioner and a member of the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District board of directors, Rotkin is tasked to think about these things.

Electric battery power dominated zero-emission transportation discussions, in both public transit circles and the personal car market. Investment seemed to leave costly hydrogen behind as global attention turned toward electric vehicles and the falling costs of charging them.

Last year, Metro received a federal grant to buy three electric buses for the 17 route, which take commuters over the hill into San Jose and Silicon Valley. Metro had its sights set on buses from Chinese company BYD (though they are manufactured in the U.S.), which Rotkin (who also writes on politics for Lookout’s Community Voices section) referred to as “the best electric buses money could buy for our needs.” However, before putting millions of dollars down, a test drive was in order.

Metro filled a bus with sandbags to give it the full weight of its capacity, and sent it winding through the steep grades and notorious curves of Highway 17.

“We couldn’t get the bus to get over the hill at 50 mph, and once it got there, it didn’t have enough charge to get back,” Rotkin told me. The bus would need to charge for hours before it could return to Santa Cruz. Metro’s leadership understood another solution was needed...more
https://lookout.co/santacruz/civic-life/story/2023-10-02/hydrogen-powered-public-transit-why-is-santa-cruz-county-so-bullish

Can't order something that isn't on the menu. And hydrogen has, deliberately or not, been kept off the menu.

[Think. Again.]

1. That's a great article, thanks!...

...the article really shines a light on how confusing it might be as we find our way through all the various options, for all the various needs, to keep moving toward a non-CO2 transport industry.

And thank you also for the second article you linked. That one really shines a light on one of the main reasons why the U.S. is so far behind so many other countries in the transition away from fossil fuels!

[Caribbeans]

3. Thank You!

the second article you linked. That one really shines a light on one of the main reasons why the U.S. is so far behind so many other countries in the transition away from fossil fuels!

Indeed. It is astounding that, in 2023, this is allowed to happen. With all the privacy-stripping and surveillance crap that has been shoved on the people of the US (especially since 2001) the fact that invested people at the DOE are making decisions that affect all of us is outrageous.

Hundreds of Energy Department Officials Hold Stocks Related to Agency’s Work Despite Warnings

We told them to stop but they didn't! What else could we do???

Absurd and makes a mockery of the present day DOE

HOW MANY OTHER DECISIONS ARE BEING ALLOWED TO BE MADE BECAUSE THE GOVERNMENT IS INFESTED WITH "INVESTED" CLOWNS THAT WON'T HEED "WARNINGS"???



The love of money...

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. The full menu

An "upstate" New York company provides a full menu of electric drive buses.

Bus solutions:

• Full electric
• Series Hybrid (think Chevy Volt™)
• Hybrid-electric
• Parallel hybrid (think Toyota Prius)
• Hydrogen fuel cell

[Doc_Technical]

4. Bring back the Suntan Special

https://www.santacruztrains.com/2019/09/curiosities-sun-tan-special.html#:~:text=Beginning%20in%201931%2C%20the%20Sun,to%20San%20Francisco%20in%201932.

[CoopersDad]

5. I live here and know these people and this new Metro

Alex Clifford was a horrible General Manager, Michael Tree is a breath of fresh air, loved by riders and the union rank and file.

Metro obtained grants to purchase 57 new hydrogen buses, more than half the fleet.

My hope is that Metro will get additional grants to become a self-generator of green hydrogen and be able to sell surplus to others.

BTW, I don't think hydrogen is right for light trucks and cars but makes sense for heavy vehicles and fleets.

Before coming to Santa Cruz, Mr. Tree helped to create the Valley Link project connecting the central valley to BART service.

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/press-release/21283961/trivalley-san-joaquin-valley-regional-rail-authority-valley-link-valley-link-purchases-property-for-hydrogen-production-facility