AC Transit Launches First Zero-Emission Bus University

The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit), Oakland, CA, has launched the first transit-collegiate partnership in the U.S., the Zero Emission Bus University (ZEBU).

With this partnership, AC Transit maintenance trainers will serve as instructors within the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District, enabling participants of the agency’s apprenticeship program to earn half of the college credits they require to achieve an Associates of Science degree.

In the summer of 2023, AC Transit was notified of a $25.5 million FTA Low-and-No Emission grant. The funding will be used to transition the agency’s 40-year-old training and education center into a 21^st-century learning lab of multi-purpose maintenance bays equipped with computers, advanced hardware and software diagnostics, and the high-tech tools needed to service complex ZEB propulsion systems.

This year, the agency was awarded a Low-and-No Emission grant of $15 million to help develop hydrogen fueling infrastructure at its Hayward division, which will enable it to serve southern Alameda County with zero-emission buses.