Oakland airport launches electric shuttle service
Oakland Airport (OAK) near San Francisco is introducing its first battery electric shuttle buses to its parking shuttle fleet. Five electric buses, sourced from RIDE, are entering service and will serve passenger and employee parking lots at the airport. While the fleet currently only consists of the five buses, the airport communicated that it has larger plans: “This step paves the way for the eventual electrification of the airport’s remaining shuttle buses, which are currently powered by renewable natural gas.”
In order to keep the buses running, charging infrastructure, including five new Heliox 180kW DC fast chargers, was commissioned at the airport for this purpose. Furthermore, the Oakland Airport has entered a partnership with The Mobility House to “deploy ChargePilot load management software as part of this project which will reduce peak loads, minimize charging costs, and reduce the need for costly future infrastructure upgrades.”
“We celebrate the introduction of our clean, new electric shuttles here at OAK. We look forward to continuing our path towards an all-electric bus fleet in the coming years,” says Port of Oakland Director of Aviation Craig Simon. “Passengers and employees that utilize the new state-of-the-art buses can enjoy quiet, spacious, comfortable, and modern vehicle interiors without emissions!”
Funding for the initiative was taken from three sources, including $1.5 million in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) programme funding, and another $600,000 from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Clean Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Programme (HVIP). Another $600,000 came from the California Energy Commission Energy Infrastructure Incentives for Zero-Emission Project (EnergIIZE) Project.
The city of Oakland has been steadily investing in electrification initiatives, with the Port of Oakland launching an electric truck project in 2021, and continued with plans to electrify the entire school bus fleet in 2024. Earlier this year, an initiative to install 250 new public charging stations was launched with support from the California Energy Commission.
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