The bus. It’s blue and has a wave on it to emphasize that it only emits water. By Dezmond Remington.


PREVIOUSLY

Years of painstaking effort paid off this morning when the Humboldt Transit Authority (HTA) unveiled their brand-new, revolutionary hydrogen-powered bus.

Funded by a 2022 $38.7 million Caltrans grant, the bus’s design was the result of teamwork between the HTA, the Schatz Energy Research Center, Ride Humboldt and Canadian bus manufacturer New Flyer. 

Typical hydrogen fuel cell buses can’t go farther than 300 miles before running out of juice. This one is equipped with nine hydrogen fuel cells on the top and can travel over 400 miles without refueling, a process that takes only 12 minutes. It’s powered by a 100 kilowatt fuel cell.

Peter Lehman, a founder of the Schatz Energy Center, reminisced about testing the bus’s abilities by driving it from Trinidad to Scotia, up Berry Summit, and finally all the way to Ukiah with an extra 5,500 pounds and the heaters blasting the whole ride down. It still made it 435 miles.

“This is the best hydrogen fuel cell bus in America,” Lehman said.

Humboldt County Supervisor Natalie Arroyo cuts the ribbon with HTA director Gregg Pratt (left) and Peter Lehman (right).



The HTA claims no other rural transportation agency in the country has one like it. 

Its emissions are nothing but water, and according to HTA General Manager Gregg Pratt, its use will eliminate over 125,000 gallons of diesel over the course of its lifetime. 

It’s the first of many. The HTA has the funding to buy more than a dozen more hydrogen buses over the next two and a half years. The temporary fueling station they’re using on this bus will be replaced by a publicly accessible permanent one by the end of 2026.

The bus will service the Trinidad-Scotia and the new North Coast Express (from Eureka to Ukiah) routes when it’s put into service soon. 

“Today’s a proud moment of progress,” Pratt said, “Not only for the Humboldt Transit Authority, but for Humboldt … . Embracing new technology hasn’t been easy, but this is a symbol of what’s possible when innovation meets action.”

Arroyo demonstrates the bus’s effective seats.