November 29, 2006—The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced recently its award of $49 million in grants to develop buses powered by hydrogen fuel cells. The FTA, a part of the US Department of Transportation, is awarding the funds to three nonprofit organizations in Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; and Pasadena, CA.
The funding will support 14 separate projects, including efforts to build a 35-foot plug-in hybrid fuel cell bus; develop a lightweight fuel cell bus using ultracapacitors or lithium-ion batteries for energy storage; and develop a 40-foot bus that couples a diesel engine with a fuel cell auxiliary power unit.
The projects will employ fuel cells from Ballard Power Systems, Hydrogenics Corporation, Nuvera Fuel Cells, and UTC Power. Various fuel cell buses will be field tested in Alabama, California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, New York, and South Carolina.
For more information and a full list of the projects, visit the FTA Web site.
