STAFF RE PORT
DATE: July 25, 2023
TO: Justin Hess, City Manager
FROM: Patrick Prescott, Community Development Director VIA: David Kriske, Assistant Community Development Director BY: Karen B. Pan, Transportation Services Manager
SUBJECT: Adoption of a Resolution Approving the BurbankBus Zero-Emission Bus (ZEB) Rollout Plan
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BURBANK APPROVING
THE BURBANKBUS ZERO -EMISSION BUS (ZEB) ROLLOUT PLAN FOR FIXED - ROUTE AND SENIOR & DISABLED TRANSIT SERVICES.
BACKGROUND
California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted the Innovative Clean Transit (ICT) regulation in 2018. The intent of the regulation is to transition transit vehicle fleets to zero emission to help California meet its long- term air quality and climate mitigation goals, provide health benefits to local communities through reduced air pollution, and reduce petroleum and other fossil fuel use. The ICT regulation requires that transit operators identify how they plan to retire fossil fuel transit vehicles and impl ement zero emission vehicles to meet California’s goals. As a provider of public transit, the City is required to approve a ZEB Rollout Plan and submit the plan to CARB by July 2023.
The ICT regulation states that small transit agencies, such as BurbankBus, must begin to transition to zero-emission vehicles beginning in 2026. In 2029, all new bus purchases by transit agencies must be zero-emission buses. CARB’s goal is that 100% of transit buses in California are zero-emission by 2040. The ICT Regulation applies to both the City’s 17
COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
2 fixed-route buses as well as the nine cutaway 1 buses used for the City’s Senior and Disabled Transit Service. Outlined in the BurbankBus ZEB Rollout Plan, transitioning from the City’s current fleet to a zero-emission fleet will require extensive planning and financial resources.
DISCUSSION
The City began studying how to transition BurbankBus to zero- emission operations in 2021 when it partnered with the cities of Glendale and Pasadena to prepare the Arroyo Verdugo Transit Operators Bus Electrification Feasibility Study (Attachment 2 and 3) .
This feasibility study was funded by a Caltrans Sustainable Communities Grant, and the three cities contracted with the non- profit consulting firm CALSTART to conduct the feasibility study. The feasibility study described the require ments for BurbankBus, Glendale Beeline, and Pasadena Transit to transition from a fossil fuel bus fleet to a zero- emission bus fleet. The City Council reviewed the feasibility study in March 2022.
The feasibility study concluded that implementing battery electric buses (BEB) was the best way to implement a zero- emission transit fleet because BEB technology is more mature, less expensive to implement, and being deployed by most transit agencies to meet zero- emission requirements at this time. It also identified va rious scenarios for implementing BEBs including vehicle types, charging technology requirements, and utility infrastructure needs. Based on the feasibility study, staff then identified four policy options (Attachment 3) for how the City could achieve this goal. Based on this information, the City Council voted to move forward to cooperate with Glendale to electrify BurbankBus at the Glendale Beeline transit facility and co-l ocate both transit operations beginning in 2026 to meet the first ICT deadline. The benefit of this option is that it allows the City to maintain transit mobility, meet the ICT regulation requirements, and help achieve the City’s greenhouse gas reduction goals in the most cost-effective manner.
Upon completion of the feasibility study , and given the City Council’s direction, CALSTART then assisted the City of Burbank to secure additional grant funding to develop a BurbankBus ZEB Rollout Plan to meet the CARB ICT regulation requirement to provide a formal plan for transitioning to a zero-emission transit fleet. The BurbankBus ZEB Rollout Plan presented in this report is a detailed roadmap that outlines Burbank’s transition to zero-emission buses based on the City Council’s direction. It identifies a fleet replacement schedule, considers vehicle and infrastructure requirements , defines necessary workforce training, and identifies a cost estimate for the transition as well as potential funding sources.
1 Cutaway bus" means a vehicle in which a bus body designed to transport passengers is mounted on the chassis of a van or light- or medium-duty truck chassis, and that has a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 14,000 pounds, but not more than 26,000 pounds, California Department Tax and Fee Administration. 3 Bus Replacement Schedule
The City has procured transit vehicles over time as it developed its transit system and grant funding was made available . The vehicles currently in service were purchased between 2003 and 2020, and need to be replaced in phases as they reach the end of their useful life. The proposed ZEB Rollout Plan identifies how these vehicles will be replaced with BEBs over time. The City is currently replacing its six oldest transit vehicles with conventional compressed natural gas buses, and t he fleet replacement schedule assumes that BurbankBus will begin purchasing BEBs after 2026, when the ICT regulation comes into effect for small transit agencies . Table 1 shows, at minimum compliance with the ICT regulation’s purchasing requirements , how the City will need to purchase BEBs to update its fleet while meeting the ICT regulations to become zero- emission. This means the fleet for fixed-route will be 100% zero-emission buses by 2039 and fleet for Senior & Disabled will be 100% zero-emission vehicles by 2032.
Table 1. ZEB Replacement Schedule
Fleet
Type
Bus No.
2023
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
2031
2032
2033
2034
2035
2036
2038
2039
Senior & Disabled Fleet 1 BEB
2 BEB
3 BEB
4 BEB
5 BEB
6 BEB
7 BEB
8 BEB
9 BEB
Fixed-Route Fleet
1 CNG BEB
2 CNG BEB
3 CNG BEB
4 CNG BEB
5 CNG BEB
6 CNG BEB
7 CNG BEB
8 CNG BEB
9 CNG BEB
10 BEB
11 BEB
12 BEB
13 BEB
14 BEB
15 BEB
16 BEB
17 BEB
CNG = Compressed Natural Gas
BEB = Battery Electric Bus
4 For Senior & Disabled Transit Service, the BurbankBus ZEB Rollout Plan also suggests the City consider replacing the 19- passenger cutaway buses with smaller 10-passenger battery electric transit vans, which have been recently introduced into the market. These vehicles are smaller , cost far less than battery electric shuttle buses , and can utilize conventional electric vehicle charging stations that are similar to ones deployed by Burbank Water and Power for use by the public.
Charging Infrastructure and Opportunity Sites
Having a dedicated charging station for the fleet will play a critical role during the implementation phase of the plan. The most challenging part of this effort is that the City does not own a dedicated bus yard where the fleet can be charged. The City’s nine Senior & Disabled buses are housed at the Public Works yard, and the 17 fixed-route buses are housed at a transit operations facility in Glendale that is leased by the City’s transit operator, MV Transportation. This presents the City with a critical problem because the City does not own a facility to invest in expensive electric vehicle charging infrastructure and cannot rely on a private contractor to invest in the type of infrastructure needed to transition to zero- emission buses as part of a typical short -term operations contract.
Securing a City -owned transit operations facility will add significant costs towards the implementation phase. It is for this reason that staff recommended to the City Council that it investigate partnering with Glendale to electrify BurbankBus in tandem with Glendale’s electrification of its Beeline transit service. Glendale owns its own transit operations facility in which to invest charging infrastructure and has the capacity to accommodate some of Burbank’s transit operations.
Another consideration for the charging infrastructure will also be the energy requirements needed to charge the buses. The BurbankBus ZEB Rollout Plan discusses the energy requirements and utility rate structure based on having the vehicles stored and charged in Glendale. This information is used to help identify the energy costs needed to operate an electric vehicle fleet.
While the City will be working with the City of Glendale on potentially co-locating BurbankBus in Glendale, there may be a possibility that co-location is not possible, or that BurbankBus operations can only partially be accommodated at Glendale’s facility.
Thus, because co-location is not guaranteed, the ICT Rollout Plan identifies how the City could implement electrification at its own transit facility. The City has identified opportunity sites if the City needs to locate some or all of Burbank’s transit operations at a City facility.
Possible locations include:
1. Downtown Burbank Metrolink Station and/or adjacent City -owned Americold Property;
2. Securing private property in Downtown Burbank with a zoning designation of Burbank Center Commercial Manufacturing (BCCM); and
5 3. Securing private property in other San Fernando Valley cities such as Sun Valley and other parts of Glendale.
If co-locating buses at Glendale is not feasible, the City would need to construct its own BEB transit operations facility for Burbank Bus at one of these locations, and then outfit this facility with BEB electric charging infrastructure including a utility transformer, a main disconnect, a switchboard, power cabinets, and up to 26 chargers. The BurbankBus ZEB Rollout Plan outlines types of charging stations the City would consider for BEBs such as overhead, inductive, and plug-in charging.
Potential Senior & Disabled Service Impacts
As mentioned at the March 2022 City Council meeting, the City may not be able to provide Senior and Disabled Transit operations using City staff if the City decided to co-locate its operations with the City of Glendale, because Glendale operates its senior and disabled services using a third -party transit operator. Co-locating with Glendale would require Senior and Disabled Transit service for both cities to be operated in the same way.
Glendale, as well as virtually every city or transit agency that offers curb- to-curb dial-a- ride service, provides the service by way of an operations contractor.
Cost Evaluation
The BurbankBus ZEB Rollout Plan maps out the expected capital and operational costs to provide BurbankBus transit services between now and 2040. The expected capital and operational costs would be approximately $22 million over the next 17 years, which assumes BurbankBus will house all its vehicles at Glendale's transit depot using Glendale Water and Power utility rates. The total cost covered by these estimates include capital and operational costs, such as the buses, bus driver and maintenance training, charging infrastructure, utility infrastructure, maintenance and repairs of the buses and infrastructure, and fueling costs. The $22 million cost is also based on the City operating its two existing bus routes. This cost has been refined and adjusted downward from the cost presented as part of the 2022 feasibility study, but it also assumes that the City is now only operating two bus routes.
It is worth noting that the cost estimates to transition to zero- emission vehicles do not include the significant costs to secure a site and construct a transit operations facility to host the necessary charging infrastructure should co-locating with Glendale is not feasible. Securing a new transit operations facility would require securing approximately 74,000 square feet of land and constructing an operations facility. As an example of what this might cost, the City of Glendale recently finished construction on a new bus facility next to the Glendale Metrolink Station. That bus facility is approximately 100,000 square feet and is expected to house their fleet of 44 fixed route and nine senior & disabled buses. At the time the new facility broke ground, Glendale reported a project cost of approximately $20 million. Glendale constructed this facility by securing a series of federal 6 grants and local Transportation Local Return funds. Based on Glendale’s facility cost, staff estimates that the transition to a BEB fleet would cost over $50 million and may reach $60 million through 2040 when the cost to secure land and construct a transit operations facility is included.
Workforce Development Training Plan
Using BEBs requires specialized workforce training to ensure that transit operations staff have the skills to operate and maintain ZEBs and infrastructure. Since the City does not hire its own bus mechanics or bus operators , the City would need to hire a transit operations contractor that can hire and train the mechanics and bus operators with appropriate skills to operate BEBs. When BEBs are purchased, the contractors will need to ensure that their workers have the skills to maintain the buses. The BurbankBus ZEB Rollout Plan identifies the requirements and costs necessary to secure the required technical workforce needed to operate a zero- emission transit operation. Since many traditional vehicle maintenance competencies (such as suspension, mechanical systems, HVAC systems, etc.) are transferable for maintaining ZEBs, the Plan recommends that the City require a prospective operations contractor to employ a staff that has the prerequisite knowledge required to begin ZEB maintenance training, including a firm understanding of high- voltage electrical systems and safety. Staff will need to include requirements for operating and maintaining electric transit vehicles, along with adequate workforce development training, as part of the scope of work when selecting a transit contractor.
Funding Sources & Mechanisms
The City has already begun to identify outside funding to begin the transition to zero- emission transit vehicles. In January 2023, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority approved an allocation of Measure M transportation sales tax funding to the Arroyo Verdugo Communities Joint Powers Authority that includes $4.4 million in funding allocated to the City to purchase zero-emission vehicles. While this will fund some BEBs for Burbank, staff will need to apply for additional grants to support the additional purchases of BEBs. In addition, the City will need to identify funding for electrical infrastructure capital costs, which would be invested as part of a collaboration with Glendale or invested at a separate facility. The Burbank ZEB Rollout Plan identifies several potential funding mechanisms available, including state and federal funding programs. Staff expects these funding programs to be extremely competitive, however, recent actions at the federal level as well as passage of the federal infr astructure bill will likely provide funding opportunities to transition to BEBs. As discussed above, these costs do not include the cost to construct a dedicated transit operations facility.
Transportation Commission’s Comments
At the June 26, 2023 Transportation Commission meeting, the Commission received a presentation on the draft BurbankBus ZEB Rollout Plan and raised several concerns 7 about the transition to zero emission vehicles. The Commission’s main concern included whether the relative low ridership of BurbankBus and the existing high cost per ride justify the additional expense of a transition to zero- emission buses. Further, the Commission was concerned about preparing a plan with a cost estimate that includes a very wide range ($22 to $50 million), and that relied on the uncertainty of the City securing a transit operations facility to house the required electric infrastructure.
The Commission voted 6 -0 ( one Commissioner not present ) to acknowledge that the proposed BurbankBus ZEB Rollout Plan is a requirement of the CARB ICT Regulation.
However, they believed that the cost of the plan is high, current BurbankBus ridership is low, and that further analysis is needed to see if the City can make transit more efficient and productive, including improved coordination with Glendale and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority . The Commission recommended that the City Council direct staff to conduct more analysis and planning to determine if ridership and projected ridership justifies the proposed expenditures.
Staff agrees that there is uncertainty with the cost and ridership. However, staff recommends that City Council adopt the Resolution because t he BurbankBus ZEB Rollout Plan is a CARB requirement imposed on all transit agencies in California. The Rollout Plan identifies the requirements, costs, and constraints of the City’s current plan to electrify its transit fleet, but this plan can be amended as the City works towards this goal. It also serves to notify the State that electrification is costly and could demonstrate to CARB that financial resources should be offered to transit agencies who need to meet this requirement. The proposed BurbankBus ZEB Rollout Plan implements the City Council’s electrification policy and identifies the financial resources needed to implement this policy. If City Council decides to not submit a ZEB Rollout Plan to CARB, it would mean the City is non -compliant with ICT regulations, which could lead to additional negative ramifications including the possible inability to apply for or be awarded transit electrification grant opportunities.
Ridership and Cost Information
Fixed-Route Ridership and Cost Information
BurbankBus Fixed-Route ridership continues a slow recovery since the low levels seen during the pandemic. BurbankBus Fixed Route services provided a total of 148,179 rides in FY 2022-23. Ridership is approximately 67% of pre-COVID averages. The cost per ride is higher than pre-pandemic costs due to lower ridership and higher costs to operate the service. Rides per hour remains lower than the start of the Pandemic (6.5 compared to
8.0). Staff continues to monitor system activity and adapt service to meet the changes in demand. Table 2 shows the annual expenditures, ridership by fiscal year, and the annual average cost per ride for reach of the existing routes.
8 Table 2. Fixed-Route Ridership and Cost
FY FY
Expenditures*
No. of
Routes No. of Rides
Average Cost
per Ride
(Orange Route)
Average Cost
per Ride
(Pink Route)
FY 2019-20 $1,222,344 3 203,135 $8.04 $8.02
FY 2020-21 $1,581,140 3 128,976 $11.21 $10.59
FY 2021-22 $1,650,880 3 145,582 $12.86 $10.42
FY 2022-23 $1,916,460 2 148,179** $16.08 $9.58
*This calculation is the transit operator’s contract, MV Transportation, Inc. **Green Route was eliminated in March 2023.
While BurbankBus cost and ridership statistics show that overall transit performance has not returned to pre- pandemic efficiency, the City has been able to contain operations costs to remain as cost -efficient as possible. Table 3 shows the cost per hour for each transit agency in 2021 (most recent data available). All transit agencies are required to report this data information to the National Transit Database. Below shows that Burbank has one of the lowest operational costs per hour in the Los Angeles region.
Table 3. 2021 National Transit Database Information
City Cost Per Hour
Burbank $75.83
Los Angeles $119.74
LA Metro Not Available
Glendale $96.98
Pasadena $85.63
Santa Monica $182.79
Senior & Disabled Transit Ridership and Cost Information BurbankBus Senior & Disabled Transit Services ridership also continues to recover. This service provided a total of 23,194 rides in FY 2022-23, which has increased compared to the previous fiscal year. During the height of the pandemic, the cost per ride was extremely high due to very low ridership coupled with operations costs that did not vary substantially during that time. But ridership has returned as the City’s senior and disabled rider population begins to travel more. Table 4 shows the annual total expendi tures, the number of rides per fiscal year, and cost per ride.
9 Table 4. Senior & Disabled Ridership and Cost
FY FY Expenditures No. of Rides Cost per Ride
FY 2019-20 $1,755,673 42,295 $41.51
FY 2020-21 $1,540,234 10,836 $142.11
FY 2021-22 $1,969,315 16,389 $94.16
FY 2022-23 $2,042,659* 23,194 $88.07
*FY 2022-23 Budget Amount is used for the calculation since the fiscal year expenditures are not available yet.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
There is no possibility that approval of the Plan alone will have a significant effect on the environment and therefore, this project is exempt from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to 14 Cal. Code Regs. §15061(b)(3). In addition, future capital projects and purchases implemented in support of the BurbankBus ZEB Rollout Plan would be reviewed for consistency with the Burbank2035 General Plan, Burbank Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan Update, other applicable regulatory land use actions, and would be subject to any required environmental assessment that would be completed prior to approval of the project.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact in approving the BurbankBus ZEB Rollout Plan, as adopting the plan does not commit the City Council to a specific action that carries a fiscal impact .
Subsequent actions , such as purchasing vehicles or building infrastructure, would be brought back to City Council for approval, and the fiscal impact of those actions would be identified.
CONCLUSION
The ICT Regulation requires that the City transition its bus fleet to zero- emission buses starting in 2026 with the goal of a complete transition to zero- emission buses by 2040.
Staff recommends the City Council to adopt the resolution to approve the BurbankBus ZEB Rollout Plan and meet the requirements of CARB’s ICT regulation. This will allow staff to continue formal discussions with Glendale to co-locate BurbankBus and Glendale Beeline transit operations at the same facility , and coordinate on finding funds to implement required electrical upgrades to accommodate BEBs. Implementing a zero- emission transit fleet will satisfy state regulatory requirements while also implementing important goals and policies of the Burbank2035 General Plan and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 – Resolution, including Burbank’s Zero-Emissions Bus Rollout Plan Attachment 2 – BurbankBus Bus Electrification Feasibility Study Attachment 3 – March 15, 2022 City Council Staff Report