There are a couple of new environmentally friendly additions to the Regional Transit Service (RTS) bus fleet.
Officials on Tuesday showed off two new buses that are powered by hydrogen fuel cells.
RTS officials say these are the first hydrogen fuel cell buses in New York State.
It’s part of a goal by RTS to have a completely zero-emission bus fleet by 2040, in line with an executive order from Governor Kathy Hochul. The transit system’s CEO Miguel Velázquez said the mission at RTS is to provide safe, reliable, convenient and sustainable transportation and he said “our pivot to hydrogen fuel cell technology for our buses will help us carry out that mission.”
The buses are not cheap; the hydrogen fuel cell buses cost about $1.4 million each, which will be paid for with the help of federal funds.
But RTS spokesperson Tom Brede noted that the hydrogen fuel cell buses will be less costly to maintain in the long run.
“And so with the diesel buses, there are a lot of parts to filter out emissions,” said Brede. “There are a lot of parts with a combustion engine, fueling, oil changes, things like that. So over time, if you look at a comparison where you looked at the total cost of ownership over a 12-year period for a diesel bus versus zero emission bus, it’s going to end up being less.”
Brede also said that the hydrogen fuel cell buses have some advantages over all-electric vehicles, including the fact that they have greater range, especially in cold weather.
“We're in the business where people rely on us all day,” said Brede. “Our buses need to be out there all day, and that's one of the advantages of the hydrogen fuel cell technology is there's a fuel tank on the bus. We can fill it with hydrogen, and hydrogen provides a constant charge to the battery, and the only emission in the hydrogen fuel cell buses is water vapor.”
RTS expects to take delivery of another 10 hydrogen fuel cell buses in late 2025. The local transit system already has 20 plug-in electric buses. In Monroe County, Brede said that currently there are just over 225 diesel buses, but the goal is to stop buying diesel buses by 2028.
