THOUSAND PALMS, CA – The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) will provide $12 million in funding for several CALSTART advanced fuel cell bus projects. The projects will advance fuel cell activities in Oakland, San Francisco, the Coachella Valley, and Southern California.

The CALSTART projects will enhance and build upon existing fuel cell bus demonstration programs at AC Transit in Oakland and at SunLine Transit in the Coachella Valley. UTC Power will provide the fuel bus for the SunLine and AC Transit buses. New Flyer Industries will develop a purpose-built bus specifically designed for fuel cell applications for the SunLine project.

In addition to the funding provided for the AC Transit and SunLine projects, the FTA is providing $5.35 million for the development of a battery dominant fuel cell hybrid bus with the San Francisco Municipal Railways. BAE Systems will provide the hybrid propulsion system and do the systems integration on the bus.

Additional funding totaling nearly $300,000 was provided to develop a hybrid fuel cell power converter and an integrated auxiliary module for fuel cell buses. These components play small but important roles in improving the efficiency and lowering the cost of fuel cell buses. US Hybrid will be the lead contractor on those two projects.

The full $12 million will be provided to CALSTART, which will be responsible for managing the overall multi-year program. CALSTART will then provide the funding to its partner companies.