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| News and Events: Technical Assistance, Incentives, and Funding Opportunities:
Upcoming Events and Activities: Resources and Guides:
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| UT, TDEC, and TVA Present Public Forum on Electric Mass Transit as an Option for Urban Mobility
With the emergence of electrified transit options and intelligent transportation system technologies, what are the costs, benefits, and barriers associated with these technologies that local governments, utilities, and transit agencies must consider and address? What best practices can be identified from electric mass transit and smart mobility case studies, and what can be done at the local, state, and federal levels to provide forward momentum in these areas? Are the visions of future transportation systems realistic and obtainable? Join the UT Baker Center, TDEC, and TVA for panel discussions regarding electric mass transit as an option for urban mobility on June 20-21, 2018 at the UT Baker Center in Knoxville. Panelists will present on a variety of topics, including: - Technology and Connectivity
- Smart Mobility Case Studies
- Visions and Groundtruthing
Additionally, a keynote address covering electric mass transit policy options and issues will be given by Caroline Choi, Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Southern California Edison (SCE). Click here to view the full event agenda. This event is free, and lunch will be provided on both days. An evening networking reception will also be planned for June 20. Register for the event at http://tiny.utk.edu/Electric. For attendees that require overnight accommodations, hotel blocks are available at the Hilton Garden Inn as well as the Four Points by Sheraton Cumberland House Hotel. These discounted rates will expire when the group blocks sell out, so be sure to book accommodations early. If you have any questions about the event, please contact TDEC OEP's Communications Coordinator Shauna Basques at Shauna.Basques@tn.gov or 615-253-1947.
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| Apply Now to the Tennessee Green Fleets Certification Program The Tennessee Green Fleets (TGF) Certification Program is an opportunity for Tennessee fleets to receive certification for their efforts to reduce petroleum consumption, use alternative fuels or advanced vehicle technologies, and reduce emissions. Tennessee Clean Fuels will administer this program via collaboration between the State’s two U.S. DOE-designated Clean Cities coalitions, the East and Middle‐West Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalitions. Tennessee Clean Fuels will review each applicant’s fleet fuel use and vehicle data to score its efforts. This awards program will certify fleets based on actions taken to reduce petroleum consumption, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and implement the use of alternative fuels. The deadline for submission to this certification program is June 15. For more information about the program, click here.
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| National Bike Month and a New Memphis Bikeshare Platform
Throughout the month of May, individuals across the country have celebrated safe and accessible biking as part of National Bike Month, which also included Bike to Work Week (May 14-18) and Bike to Work Day (May 18). As part of this effort, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has posted a variety of biking-related posts throughout the month on its Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn pages, using the hashtag #BikeMonth. Just in time for National Bike Month, nonprofit Explore Bike Share launched its 600-bike rental bikeshare system in Memphis on May 23, 2018. Locations around the city for the program’s first 60 bike stations have been unveiled, and the nonprofit has indicated plans to add more stations and bikes in 2019 and 2020. Visit the Explore Bike Share website for more information: https://explorebikeshare.bcycle.com/.
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| U.S. DOE Announces $19 Million for Advanced Battery and Electrification Research to Enable Extreme Fast Charging
On April 30, U.S. DOE announced $19 million to support twelve new cost-shared research projects focused on batteries and vehicle electrification technologies that will enable extreme fast charging. Specifically, selected research projects are focused on developing electric vehicle systems that can recharge rapidly at high power levels: - Nine projects will focus on advanced anodes, electrolytes, and battery cell designs that can be charged rapidly—in less than 10 minutes—while still maintaining performance over the 10 year battery life goal. Projects from ORNL, UT Knoxville, and Coulometrics, LLC in Chattanooga all received funding under this area of interest.
- ORNL and two other entities were also selected to receive funding for projects that will develop and verify electric drive systems and infrastructure for electric vehicle extreme fast charging, which increases charging power levels (up to 400 kW) and reduces charging times (to 15 minutes or less).
Click here to view a full list of award recipients.
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| U.S. DOE Awards $3M for Advanced Biofuels, Bioenergy, and Biobased Products Research
U.S. DOE recently announced up to $3 million in funding for production of advanced biofuels, bioenergy, and biobased products through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI). The BRDI funds research projects that will help develop economically and environmentally sustainable sources of biomass and increase the availability of competitively-priced renewable fuels and biobased products, all while helping to improve energy security. As part of this funding announcement, the University of Tennessee will receive $1-2 million to develop an integrated biorefinery design that will combine the production of liquid fuels and renewable chemicals to verify production of affordable cellulosic ethanol. This project will seek to lower the costs to produce bio-based fuels, as well as co-products for chemicals and other uses. If successful, the project will help the Bioenergy Technologies Office meet its goal of driving the cost of advanced biofuels down to less than $3 per gallon-gasoline-equivalent (GGE). Click here to read more.
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| Korean Battery Maker Atlas BX Announced Plans to Build Manufacturing Plant in Clarksville
South Korean battery maker Atlas BX announced that it will build a $75 million plant in the Clarksville-Montgomery County Corporate Business Park, bringing an estimated 200 jobs to the area. Atlas BX manufactures car batteries for traditional passenger cars, light trucks, electric vehicles, commercial vehicles, boats, and recreational vehicles. The plant is expected to open in 2020. For more information, click here.
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| Hytch Partners with Local Sponsors, Pays Tennessee Users to Share Rides
Hytch Rewards is a free app for iPhone and Android that lets users earn cash rewards anytime two or more people share a ride, whether through carpool, rideshare, or public transit. Thanks to sponsorship from Nissan North America, app users ending their Hytch ride in the Middle Tennessee region earn between three to four cents per mile. Users can also earn one cent per mile for every shared mile trip (up to 25 miles) ending anywhere in Tennessee. Additional partners have layered on rewards for specific regions, days of the week, times of the day, or modes of transportation. For example, Shelby and Knox county commuters can earn additional rewards Monday through Friday thanks to Sprint by Absolute Wireless. Other sponsors offer supplemental rewards for their employees, through the use of a group code. In a recent announcement, Lipscomb University noted that half of its first floor student parking garage would now be reserved for students who carpool using Hytch. Not only will students be paid to drive to school with a friend, but they will also receive preferred parking from the university. Earlier this month, Hytch Rewards reached a major milestone—more than one million single occupancy vehicle miles have now been avoided and recorded through the Hytch app. To learn more about the company, or to download the app, click here.
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| TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, INCENTIVES, AND FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
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| FTA Low or No Emission Program
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recently announced the availability of $84.45 million in Fiscal Year 2018 funds for the purchase/lease of low or no emission vehicles (Low-No) as well as related equipment or facilities. The Low-No Program supports the transition of the nation’s transit fleet to the lowest polluting and most energy efficient transit vehicles. The program provides funding to state and local government authorities for the purchase/lease of zero-emission and low-emission transit buses, and may cover costs tied to the acquisition, construction, and leasing of required supporting facilities. Eligible applicants include any designated recipient of FTA grants, states, local governmental authorities, and Indian Tribes. Proposals must be submitted electronically through Grants.gov by 11:59 PM EST on June 18, 2018. Click here to read the full funding notice.
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| U.S. DOT Announces BUILD Transportation Discretionary Grants Program
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) recently announced $1.5 billion in funding under the Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development (BUILD) Transportation Discretionary Grants program, formerly known as TIGER. BUILD Transportation grants may fund investments in surface transportation infrastructure and are to be awarded on a competitive basis for projects that will have a significant local or regional impact. BUILD funding can support roads, bridges, transit, rail, ports, or intermodal transportation. To provide technical assistance to a broad array of stakeholders, U.S. DOT will host a series of webinars explaining the grant application process. An all-applicants webinar on how to compete for BUILD Transportation grants will be held on Thursday, June 5, a webinar for rural and tribal applicants will be held on Wednesday, June 6, and a webinar on how to prepare a benefit cost analysis for a BUILD application will be held on Wednesday, June 13. All webinars will take place from 2:00-4:00 PM EST and will be recorded and posted on the BUILD website for later viewing. Applications are due July 19, 2018. Click here to read more.
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| TVA Forklift and Non-Road Vehicle Electrification Programs
Electric forklifts and non-road equipment have lower operating costs, lower emissions, and less maintenance requirements than traditional internal combustion equipment. To support the adoption of electric non-road equipment, TVA offers funding incentives for the purchase and/or replacement of internal combustion forklifts and non-road vehicles with electric alternatives. TVA’s electric forklift incentive is available for a limited time and can provide up to $2,000 per forklift replaced. TVA will also partially fund the purchase of other eligible non-road electric vehicles, including Ground Power Units (GPUs), lifts, service tucks, electric truck refrigeration units (eTRUs), golf carts, and more. Click here for more information on the electric forklift program. Click here for more information on the non-road electric vehicle program.
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| UPCOMING EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES
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| Webinar: Tools for a Sustainable Transit Agency
The Transportation Research Board (TRB) will conduct a webinar on June 5, 2018 from 2:00 – 3:30 PM EST that features research from the Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) on transit agency sustainability programs. This research explores the development of two tools for improving sustainability at transit agencies—the Sustainability Routemap and the S+ROI Calculator—which address transit sustainability by simplifying, translating, and implementing existing knowledge in new ways. These tools, available here, may help agencies create a successful sustainability program by showing them how to develop performance measures, obtain buy-in from leadership and staff, and apply a combination of methods. A certificate for 1.5 Certification Maintenance Credits will be provided to certified planners who register and attend the webinar. Click here for more information.
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| Webinar: How to Build a Successful Mobility as a Service Story
TRB will conduct a webinar on June 18, 2018 from 1:00 – 2:30 PM EST that discusses practical applications of Mobility as a Service (MaaS), taken from European case studies. MaaS is defined as a shift away from personally-owned modes of transportation and toward shared-use multimodal mobility. This mobility is enabled by combining transportation services from public and private transportation providers through a unified smartphone app that creates and manages the trip, which users can pay for with a single account. Presenters will describe successful MaaS case studies from Denmark and Finland and will explain how the MaaS ecosystem works. They will also explore a pilot MaaS program being conducted by Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). This webinar will explore how MaaS can meet passenger needs, how MaaS can integrate public and private transportation, and how MaaS can connect a variety of transportation options through one mobile app. A certificate for 1.5 Professional Development Hours (PDHs) will be provided to Professional Engineers (PEs) who register and attend the webinar as an individual. A certificate for 1.5 Certification Maintenance Credits will be similarly provided to certified planners who register and attend the webinar. Click here for more information.
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| Transit Resources and Reports
1) Public Transit and Bikesharing TCRP recently published Synthesis 132, titled “Public Transit and Bikesharing.” The report explores cooperative transit and bikesharing relationships and documents the experiences of transit systems with bikesharing as a mode. The synthesis identifies the current state of the practice, including challenges, lessons learned, and gaps in information. 2) Understanding Recent Ridership Changes: Trends and Adaptations This report by the American Transportation Association (APTA) identifies the current trends in transit ridership and presents possible adaptations to address declining ridership. The report contextualizes current ridership trends by addressing public transit trends under a broader, macroeconomic framework. 3) Transportation Radio Releases New Transit Equity Podcast Transportation Radio is a podcast that features interviews with mobility professionals on a variety of transportation issues. The podcast recently released a new episode on the Center for Transportation, Equity, Decisions, and Dollars (CTEDD), a U.S. DOT-designated University Transportation Center (UTC). This podcast episode features Dr. Diane Jones Allen of the University of Texas at Arlington and Dr. Sean Barbeau of the University of South Florida as they discuss their recent research projects dealing with transit accessibility and performance in extreme weather events.
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| Travel Effects and Associated Emissions of Automated Vehicles
The National Center for Sustainable Transportation (NCST) at the University of California-Davis (UC-Davis) released a report that assesses automated vehicles (AVs) and their effects on travel and the environment. The report identifies changes that AVs may have on increased roadway capacity, reduced travel time, monetary costs, parking, induced travel demand, new traveler groups, and energy. The report suggests that automation of personal vehicles and taxi/carshare/transit services will likely increase overall VMT and GHG emissions and will encourage urban sprawl. However, the report finds that these negative impacts can be mitigated by a variety of strategies, including automated fleet electrification and reinvestment in heavy rail transit to city centers with expanded first-and-last-mile access in suburban areas. Click here to read the report.
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| Developing Markets for Zero-Emission Vehicles in Goods Movement
A new report from UC-Davis NCST evaluates the market status and potential market penetration of zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) and low emission vehicles in the medium- and heavy-duty freight sector. The report identifies alternative technologies—including battery electric, fuel cell, and hybrid technologies—and compares them to existing gasoline, diesel, and natural gas vehicles used in comparable applications. Researchers found that the projected decline of battery costs for electric and fuel cell vehicles, combined with the current support for heavy-duty electric vehicle demonstration projects, will assist the ZEV market potential for the medium- and heavy-duty weight classes. Read the report here.
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| Resale Values of Electric and Conventional Vehicles: Recent Trends and Influence on the Decision to Purchase a New Vehicle
The University of Michigan recently released a report that investigates the effect of resale value on consumer purchasing decisions regarding electric vehicles (EVs). The report compares the resale value of EVs and comparable internal-combustion-engine vehicles (ICEs) and found that, while resale value did not feature prominently among consumer priorities for purchasing either kind of vehicle, study respondents indicated that resale value was more heavily weighted in purchasing EVs than ICEs. Click here to read the report.
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| Charging EVs in Smart Cities: an EVI-PRO Analysis of Columbus, Ohio To assist state and local governments anticipating growth in EV adoption, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has created a new tool called EVI-Pro Lite—a simplified version of the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Projection Tool (EVI-Pro) model. Combining a sleek and user-friendly interface, the EVI-Pro Lite tool identifies existing public EV charging infrastructure and projects future consumer demand for charging infrastructure by state or city/urban area based on user inputs for the anticipated number of EVs.
The tool was recently used to offer guidance about EV charging infrastructure in Columbus, Ohio, to support both the DOT Smart City Challenge and the Smart Columbus Initiative. An analysis found that while consumer demand for fast charging is expected to remain low (due to modest anticipated adoption of short-range battery electric vehicles or BEVs), a minimum level of fast charging coverage across the city is recommended to ease consumer range anxiety. Key determinants of the non-residential charging infrastructure required to support EV adoption include: - consumer preference for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) versus BEVs
- overall electric driving range
- ambient conditions (like climate), and
- availability of residential charging at multi-unit dwellings (MUDs).
Full results of the report are available here.
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| Transit Bus Electrification Report Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) forecasts that electric buses will make up 84% of municipal bus sales globally by 2030, according to a recent report. The growing market means that by 2040, 80% of all the buses on the road could be electric. The joint report, written with the Financing Sustainable Cities Initiative, provides additional findings, including: - Electric buses still cost more upfront than equivalent diesel buses. An analysis of battery cost curves indicates that unsubsidized cost parity will be reached around 2030. By then, the battery pack in the average e-bus should account for around 8% of the total price, compared to 26% in 2016. If demand increases, battery prices could come down even faster, bringing electric buses to upfront cost parity by the mid-2020s.
- In some cases, electric buses are already a cheaper option with regard to total cost of ownership (TCO). A typical bus with a 250 kWh battery operating around 166 km/day has a TCO of around $0.99/km, which is lower than that of diesel buses ($1.05/km) or CNG buses ($1.19/km). Falling battery prices are expected to make electric buses fully cost competitive on a TCO basis in almost all configurations within 2-3 years.
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