Projects

San Diego Metropolitan Transit System Grant for CNG Fueling Station Upgrades

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System will speed the refueling of its growing fleet of compressed natural gas-powered buses. With the help of an Energy Commission grant, the transit system will install larger, higher capacity fueling compressors that will cut in half the time needed to refuel a CNG bus at its South Bay Maintenance Facility. As a result, cleaner natural gas buses can be refueled as quickly as their traditional diesel ones.

The old fueling system was designed when the transit system boasted 50 CNG-powered buses, but by late 2010 it has 158 of them in its fleet, with plans to add 40 more to improve its ability to meet federal and state air quality standards. San Diego is in a non-attainment air basin for oxides of nitrogen and particulates.

Grant Amount

$500,000

Match Funding

The Federal Transit Administration also will provide $1,176,000 for the San Diego project.

Project Participants

The San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, one of California’s largest transit districts, covers 3,240 square miles and serves approximately three million San Diego residents annually by bus and rail. The System’s Project Manager and operation-maintenance staff will provide project oversight and will be responsible for managing the project to completion.

Fuel Solutions and Clean Energy, a third party consultant specializing in CNG compressor installations, will assist with the purchase and installation of the new, high capacity CNG compressors.

Project Benefits

Fuel system output is critical to the transit district’s operations as there is a very limited time to fuel and service the natural gas bus fleet every day. Because CNG has 21 percent fewer emissions than diesel, San Diego’s nearly 200 CNG buses will reduce greenhouse gases by an estimated 3,800 metric tons of CO2 a year, compared to similar diesel-powered vehicles. Natural gas will displace 1.5 million gallons of diesel fuel each year.