Project Overview
Lawrence Transit competed for and was awarded three consecutive federal Low-No Emissions Program grants for electric buses in 2020, 2021, and 2022. The 11 buses associated with these three grants help the City achieve approximately 22% zero-emissions buses. Ultimately, Lawrence Transit plans to transition its entire bus fleet (50 buses) to zero-emissions by 2035, following sustainability goals set by the City.
The City expects the Zero Emission Transition Plan to provide:
- The establishment of baseline capital and operating costs in a status quo scenario (no change in the make-up of the City’s fleet);
- A comparison of the expected capital costs of competing ZEB technologies against the baseline through the term of the transition;
- A comparison of the capital cost of associated ZEB infrastructure; and
- A comparison of operating costs (including labor, training, fuel, maintenance and any other operational costs)
Additionally, the financial analysis will consider lifetime/lifecycle costs, and under what conditions financing the capital required for the transition would be advantageous to the City.
Status + Timeline + Next Steps
Status
In Progress
Timeline
Project Start: April 2024
Project End: January 2025
Milestone 1: Grant Application Submission – June 2021 – Completed
Milestone 2: Project Planning and Initiation – Apr 2024 – Completed
Milestone 3: Service Assessment – June Q2 2024 – Completed
Milestone 4: Fleet Assessment – July 2024 – Completed
Milestone 5: Fuel Assessment – Estimated Q3 2024 – Completed
Milestone 6: Maintenance Assessment – Estimated Q3 2024 – Completed
Milestone 7: Redundancy, Resiliency, and Response – Estimated Q3 2024 – Not Started
Milestone 8: Facilities Assessment – Estimated Q4 2024 – In Progress
Milestone 9: Total Cost of Ownership – Estimated Q4 2024 – Not Started
Milestone 10: Finalize Plan – Estimated Q1 2025 – Not Started
Next Steps
Internal data collection for Milestone 4: Fleet Assessment has begun.
Completed + Supporting Documentation
Project partners
- Lead project consultant: Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE)
- Engineering support consultant: NV5