The Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Washoe County has been investing in alternative fuel buses since 2014 to reduce carbon emissions and combat rising fuel costs. Currently, more than a quarter of RTC's 70 bus fleet is composed of electric-battery buses.

However, the RTC has discovered that electric-battery buses have some limitations that hinder their effectiveness. Therefore, the RTC is now investing in hydrogen fuel-cell buses, which are considered superior technology. The first two hydrogen fuel cell buses arrived last week to RTC's Sutro Street location.

 "Hydrogen fuel cell buses are pretty cool because they are electric buses, but instead of having to charge them overnight, they get charged from the hydrogen fuel cells themselves. The batteries get charged from that. And, that gives them the ability to travel about 300 miles per charge, verses 100 or so for when you use the EVs," said Regional Transmission Commission of Washoe County, Government Affairs Officer Paul Nelson. 

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has awarded RTC $6.8 Million for the two hydrogen buses recently acquired. Additionally, the FTA is awarding RTC another $8.8 Million to have eight hydrogen buses running in Washoe County by the end of 2024.

Hydrogen buses blend ambient air and hydrogen to produce electricity, which charges the batteries while driving, allowing them to operate for a longer time period. Another advantage of hydrogen technology is scalability. While RTC needs a new charging station for each new electric battery bus, just one hydrogen filling station can support 10 to 50 buses.

RTC is currently working on building a temporary filling station and is shipping hydrogen from Sacramento each week. Eventually, RTC plans to invest in a centralized hydrogen filling station.

RTC states that hydrogen buses are also safer than regular gas buses. The drivers and mechanics of these new buses will train on virtual reality headsets funded by the Federal government. "The administration is really pushing for more sustainable transportation, and hydrogen fuel-cell buses do that. Having this federal money available is critical for the RTC because we're not a very large operation. If we didn't have federal funding, we would have to use our local fuel tax dollars. So, this allows us to use that money in other ways," said Government Affairs Officer Paul Nelson.

The first two buses had quite the journey to get to Reno! After driving through a storm they are now being cleaned and wrapped, and will be up and running soon.

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