This week, California's Central Valley took a major step to reduce emissions throughout that region. With a California Air Resources Board (CARB) funds award, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) will deploy 15 Proterra Catalyst buses, 11 Proterra depot-chargers, and four Proterra fast-chargers in order to improve local air quality and public health in disadvantaged communities throughout the San Joaquin Valley.
CARB’s investment from the highly competitive Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Pilot Program will create advanced technology hubs and provide direct economic and environmental benefits while serving as a regional model that supports economies of scale in manufacturing, training, maintenance and vehicle-to-grid integration. The Valley-wide electrification project will further help drive down vehicle costs and offer immediate opportunities for shared infrastructure, spare parts, and workforce training. Opportunities for technology transfer will also help drive additional deployments of zero-emission heavy-duty vehicle technologies throughout California and North America.
Proterra Catalyst zero-emission, battery-electric buses and charging stations will be deployed in the City of Visalia Transit Division, Fresno County Rural Transit Agency, California State University Fresno, City of Modesto Transit Services and, existing Proterra customer, San Joaquin Regional Transit District – helping to significantly reduce harmful emissions and clean the air in the San Joaquin Valley.
Proterra will manufacture the buses and charging infrastructure at its newest facility in the City of Industry, California - a facility built to meet the growing demand for zero-emission buses throughout the Western United States, and will ensure close collaboration and ease of maintenance for San Joaquin Valley communities during the 12-year vehicle lifespan.
"This project demonstrates how California's leadership in clean-vehicle innovation is benefiting all Californians. These zero-emission buses will be built in California and driven in California, cleaning the air and serving the public transit needs of disadvantaged communities up and down the San Joaquin Valley," said Matt Rodriquez, California secretary for environmental protection.
“In the last 22 years, we have implemented voluntary incentive programs that have resulted in more than 134,000 tons of emission reductions. We are particularly proud of projects like this one with Proterra as they accelerate the deployment of zero-emission heavy-duty technologies, which reduces emissions from mobile sources, the biggest air quality challenge facing the Valley. We expect this program will eliminate 1.592 tons per year of weighted criteria pollutants,” said Samir Sheikh, deputy air pollution control officer of the SJVAPCD.
"The state’s investment of proceeds from the cap-and-trade program for made-in-California electric buses is a smart move. It generates new clean tech jobs right here in our state and helps replace dirty buses – that generate high levels of pollution – with buses that have no tailpipe emissions at all. This investment supports the market for larger zero-emission vehicles, cuts greenhouse gases, and delivers cleaner air where it is most needed: disadvantaged communities throughout the San Joaquin Valley,” said Mary D. Nichols, California Air Resources Board chair.
