Multiple mechanical problems with early-model electric buses first reported in July out of Foothill Transit have affected at least three other transit agencies in the United States, leading to challenges nationwide with the changeover to cleaner technology buses.
Other agencies experiencing downed electric buses, often with no way to fix them due to unavailable parts, include San Joaquin Regional Transit District in Stockton, the Regional Transportation Commission of Washoe County in Reno, Nevada, and the Transit Authority of River City in Louisville, Kentucky.
The problems primarily stem from early generation buses made by Proterra, a South Carolina company that opened an electric bus manufacturing plant in City of Industry in 2017 now with 200 employees.
As of August, Foothill Transit, based in West Covina and serving the San Gabriel Valley, parts of Los Angeles and Pomona Valley, had 13 idled battery-electric buses out of 32 in its fleet. At one point, the agency indicated up to 67% of its electric buses were not operating during 2019 and 2020. In addition to the electric buses, the agency maintains341 compressed natural gas buses.
Of the 13 idled electric buses, three were manufactured in 2010 and delivered to Foothill Transit in 2011, costing $1 million each. These were paid for by taxpayers out of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 passed by Congress after the Great Recession, said Felicia Friesema, a Foothill Transit spokesperson. For the rest, billed at $847,496 each, the federal government covered 86% of the cost combined with a 14% match from the transit agency.
The buses were required to last 12 years, but most carried passengers in Pomona and La Verne for seven or eight years before they began to fail. Now the transit agency must decide whether to return the buses early to the Federal Transit Administration — along with a check for the depreciated value, about $5 million — or find the parts to repair them and return them to service.
In late August, the agency met with Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-West Covina, to ask the FTA for a modification of its length-of-service requirement.
“We put an inquiry in,” Napolitano said Aug. 30. “It is not fair. They (Foothill) are not the only ones suffering from this malady. Other bus agencies have the same problem.”
Foothill Transit was the first bus agency in North America to begin swapping out compressed natural gas buses with electric, which reduces smog components and greenhouse gases that cause global climate change. But the agency is caught between FTA demands and the actual life of the buses and argues it’s being penalized for early efforts to fulfill a state mandate for 100% zero-emission buses by 2040.
“We are exploring a possibility in getting an exception” and retire the downed buses early, Foothill Transit CEO Doran Barnes said on Sept. 3. “But we would need to replace those buses.”
Same problems, other agencies
Meanwhile, problems with early Proterra buses at Foothill — stalling, breakdowns, unavailability of spare parts and, in one case, a fire — have plagued other agencies.
The San Joaquin RTD has 17 Proterra buses. Some of the problems include a lack of available parts to fix them and get them back on the road and “long wait periods for customer service,” wrote spokesperson Merab Talamantes in an email.
“We have also experienced some issues with range,” she wrote, meaning how long a bus can travel on a single charge. Talamantes said the agency has had to shift some of the problem buses to shorter routes.
The transit agency in Washoe County, which serves Reno and Sparks north of Las Vegas with 25 routes, has had problems with four first-generation Proterra electric buses put in service in 2014, said spokesman Michael Moreno. These are experiencing power issues in which the batteries are no longer accepting charges, he said recently.
“We are also experiencing not being able to get parts,” he added.
At Foothill, some of the downed buses have sat for close to 300 days awaiting parts. Finding parts for the older electric buses has become nearly impossible and if available, are extremely expensive, according to the agency. An electric converter was priced at more than $12,600 and a traction motor costs about $14,600, according to a Foothill report.
The Nevada agency has been in touch with Foothill and Proterra, Moreno said. Like Foothill, the Nevada electric buses were purchased with federal dollars and were supposed to last 12 years but are falling short. The agency is also weighing whether to pay back the FTA or obtain a reprieve.
“The technology has moved ahead of these original four buses we purchased,” Moreno said. “We order parts and it takes several months or not at all.”
Washoe County also has 17 newer electric buses in its fleet that are having problems with water pumps, odometers and fuses, he said. But Proterra has been able to supply parts for these newer models, he said.
At TARC in Kentucky, the early Proterra buses demonstrated reliability levels that were at or below levels seen with newer model diesel buses from other makers, according to a Sept. 2 email from executive director Carrie Butler.
The agency was mentioned by Foothill as having similar problems but Butler said in the email she could not speak to whether her agency’s problems with early model electric buses were precisely similar to those experienced by the West Covina agency.
TARC has been a Proterra customer since 2014 with its first nine electric buses placed in service in January 2015, Butler wrote. The service was suspended during the coronavirus pandemic and the agency added six of Proterra’s next version buses and those vehicles are still in service, she added.
Proterra said it is supporting all its bus customers but would not name them, nor comment on specific discussions or actions.
In a lengthy August email, company spokesman Shane Levy said the bus-maker is producing upgraded models and is making a fifth-generation e-bus that can travel more than 300 miles per charge.
“We strive to provide excellent customer service and work cooperatively and closely with our transit customers to resolve issues as they arise, reduce the time that buses are out of service and honor our warranties,” Levy wrote.
He said many of the company’s early buses, including those purchased with federal dollars by Foothill, were some of the first electric buses on the roads in North America.
“As with any first-of-its-kind technology, there are learning curves along the way and challenges to overcome,” Levy wrote.
If not Proterra, then who?
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has purchased 145 electric buses since committing to an all-electric fleet in July 2018. So far, 45 have been delivered. But none are from Proterra, said Dave Sotero, LA Metro spokesman, in a recent email.
Instead, LA Metro went with New Flyer, a Canadian company, and BYD, a Chinese manufacturer, he said. Though the agency has not experienced bus fires nor stalling, some have sat idle because of delays in spare parts, he wrote.
“The delays appear to be primarily a result of COVID-19 related disruptions to distribution,” Sotero wrote, and are similar to parts delays for non-electric buses.
Omnitrans in San Bernardino County put four battery electric buses made by New Flyer into service in June — two are on routes in the east San Bernardino Valley and two in the west valley, said spokesperson Nicole Ramos. No buses were purchased from Proterra.
The Los Angeles Department of Transportation recently received 12 Proterra electric buses, bringing the agency’s number of Proterra buses to 25, Levy wrote.
Next year, Foothill Transit will take delivery of 20 hydrogen-powered fuel-cell buses made by New Flyer, Barnes said. But he said the agency is not giving up on electric grid-powered buses.
Just adding up Foothill’s purchases, electric buses have cost taxpayers millions of dollars. And the cost of turning over to a non-fossil fuel fleet continues to increase.
“We knew going in that zero-emission buses cost more money. Now, if their life is only say 10 years and not 12 years, that adds on to the cost,” said Glendora City Councilman Gary Boyer, a Foothill Transit board member during a recent board meeting.
Barnes said he’s proud of his agency leading the way into the zero-emission future, despite the problems.
“It is not always gonna be perfect but that is part of the journey,” Barnes said. “Sometimes it’s a little challenging, and a little scary, but it is progress.”
