Foothill Transit, a joint powers authority of 21-member cities in the San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys, was created in 1988. Bus service began in December 1988 with operation of two service lines. Twelve additional lines were assumed by Foothill Transit over a period of five years. Foothill Transit now operates 35 fixed-route local, express and rail-feeder lines, covers 327 square miles, and serves 16 million customers each year, making it the second-largest fixed route public transit provider in Southern California. This number is up from 9.5 million boardings at the time of Foothill Transit's original application. In 2002, Foothill Transit entered a cleaner new era by beginning its conversion to a compressed natural gas (CNG) fleet. Foothill Transit has put into service 117 CNG buses and is planning to have an all-CNG fleet by 2011. The agency also opened its second operations and maintenance facility in October 2002. Located in Irwindale/Arcadia, it joined Foothill Transits first agency-owned facility in Pomona, which opened in 1997. Prior to the opening of these facilities, the agency had to rely on its operations contractors to provide their own facilities.
10540000.00
The thirty new buses operate out of Foothill Transit's Pomona Operation and Maintenance Facility and serve the Pomona Valley region. Foothill selected the Detroit Diesel Series 50 G compressed natural gas engine for the new vehcles. This engine is certified at the CARB optional low-NOx standard of 1.2 g/bhp-hr.
Foothill Transit has adopted an implementation plan to transition its remaining fleet of diesel transit buses to new, compressed natural gas buses. This objective of this project was to retire thirty (30) older diesel buses and replace them with new CARB-certified low emission vehicles.
The new low-emission transit buses offer significant reductions in ozone precursor emissions as well as reductions in particulate matter. Diesel particulate matter has been designated by the California Air Resources Board as a toxic air contaminant and is a known carcinogen. The new CNG vehicles are currently operating in revenue service within the Pomona Valley region of the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The vehicles are refueled at Foothill Transit's CNG station located at their Pomona Operations and Maintenance Facility.
All thirty vehicles have been received and placed into revenue service. To date, no significant issues relating to vehicle performance or reliability have been reported.