It has been announced that an investment of $78 million will be made by California’s Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). This investment will go into fifty zero-emission buses, along with forty vehicles that will be powered by hydrogen fuel cell technology.

The hydrogen and battery-powered buses will be supplied through New Flyer, a Canadian manufacturer and it is anticipated that these vehicles will be ready to enter operations in late 2026. Doing this neatly aligns with California’s mandate for all public transit agencies to achieve zero-emissions operations by the year 2040.

On top of this, it was made clear that the bus purchase was supported by the Federal Transit Administration and California Climate Investments and this support was shown through funding which was generated by the state’s cap-and-trade carbon programme.

Furthermore, Hexagon Purus recently played a part by agreeing to supply hydrogen cylinders for New Flyer’s North American buses. This part of the agreement highlights a fifth consecutive year of partnership between these two companies.

Alongside all of these developments, the bus manufacturer chose to double their first order of Ballard Power Systems’ fuel cell engines in November and now within the new deal, it is planned that Ballard will supply a maximum of two-hundred fuel cell engines in 2025.

So far, since 2023, California’s Clean Transit Rule has made a requirement of 25% of new bus purchases to be zero-emission clear. This rule will soon be increased to 50% by 2026 and then this will progress onto 100% by 2029.

OCTA Chair, Tam Nguyen, commented, “I’m proud that OCTA is an industry leader in transitioning to zero-emission technology and I’m glad we’re helping set the standard for a future in which our passengers can continue to count on reliable bus service while protecting our environment.”