‘We are not going to move off the hydrogen path’ SunLine CEO provides update on fueling issues
Reliable public transportation is important to Indio resident Jonathan Yslas. We first spoke with Yslas in September 2023 when he reached out to News Channel 3 and shared his concerns about service interruptions at SunLine Transit Agency.
Up until a few days ago, Yslas has been taking the bus daily to get around and he's noticed service is better as of recently compared to a few months ago. “There has been a drastic improvement with that. The buses are running a little more on time now," according to Yslas.
SunLine Transit Agency has implemented numerous steps to cope with ongoing challenges it has experienced at its electrolyzed hydrogen fueling station.
The station was built by Nel Hydrogen in 2019, and for more than a year, was unable to meet SunLine's daily operating needs. On November 12, 2023, Nel Hydrogen failed a site acceptance test. Exactly one month after, the title to the hydrogen station was transferred to SunLine.
"The station does remain inoperable to some extent. It's still creating hydrogen, but we're not able to dispense the hydrogen," according to Mona Babauta, CEO and General Manager at SunLine Transit Agency.
In mid-October, SunLine started funneling hydrogen to its old station in order to fuel its hydrogen buses. However, because the technology is so old, it takes about 30 minutes to an hour to fuel each bus.
“Fortunately, our ability to continue to fuel at the old station has allowed us to continue to use roughly 10 to 12 of the hydrogen fuel cell buses in our fleet of 26,” according Babauta. Not doing so would have resulted in the cancellation of services.
SunLine has also leased 8 compressed natural gas buses Riverside-based Shuttle Bus Leasing which has helped the transportation company “get to a place where we no longer have to cancel service,” according to Babauta. The contract comes at a cost of $650,000. SunLine expects to return the leased buses by November 2024.
When the electrolyzer hydrogen station first went down in August 2023, SunLine was unable to fuel roughly 35% of its fixed-route fleet (26 out of 75 buses), which resulted in the cancellation of roughly 20% of its daily service.
It took roughly three to four months for the leased buses to be added to SunLine’s system, “so it wasn’t until November that the public actually saw SunLine run full reliable service again,” according to Babauta. She added that she doesn’t “anticipate the public seeing a whole lot of disruptions to our service in the coming months.”
Service changes that took effect this past Sunday have also helped with SuLine’s fleet availability as it continues to address hydrogen fueling challenges. “When we moved from operating 20 minute service in the peaks, in the mornings and afternoons, on our highest ridership routes to 30 minutes throughout the day, that reduces the need to pull out as many buses,” according to Babauta.
Construction of a new liquid hydrogen fueling station is expected to be completed by May or June 2024, the cost of which will be paid for through the use of state funds.
“We are not going to move off of the hydrogen path. We think that as the state is requiring us to move to zero emission by 2040 that is the best solution," according to Babauta.
She has also confirmed SunLine is seeking legal council at this time to define the transit agency's options with respect to a relationship with Nel Hydrogen.
Babauta added that the agency's board will discuss the matter in the next month to determine a long-term plan for the hydrogen station and SunLine's connection with Nel Hydrogen.
