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The Ohio Advanced Transportation Partnership (OATP) involved diverse partners from across Ohio, including city and county government, private and non-profit fleets, and other industry partners in a broad-based project to help transform Ohio's transportation sector. Funds for this project were used for the purchase or conversion of 313 alternative fuel vehicles including compressed natural gas vehicles, propane vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and dedicated electric vehicles. In addition, 77 unique refueling stations were built. These included electric vehicle recharging locations, compressed natural gas stations, and propane stations.

The Gas Technology Institute (GTI) is developing guidance on cost-effective and practical solutions to the permitting of fleet maintenance and repair facilities. The guidance will aid facility owners, authorities having jurisdiction (AHJ’s), designers, fire officials, and other stakeholders in interpreting and understanding regulatory requirements of needed modifications to maintenance facilities. GTI is working with industry experts to address necessary maintenance facility and garage upgrades for three major alternative fuels currently being used in heavy duty vehicles: compressed natural gas, hydrogen, and propane. The guidance will address gas detection, ventilation, electrical classification compliance, heating devices, alarm system configuration, and behavior of lighter-than-air fuels.

As of 2019, GTI has developed multiple reports, safety technology summaries, code reports, best practice documents, presentation materials, and videos for each of the three gaseous fuels. These materials are available to the public through the project’s website that features an interactive diagram of a maintenance garage. Using these materials, GTI has conducted online outreach and hosted workshops across the country including at multiple large conferences in Chicago, Illinois; Emeryville, California; Los Angeles, California and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

The objective of the project is to enable state and local authorities to assess and optimize jurisdictional level transportation energy, emission, and productivity by monitoring real-time energy and emissions flows. The project will develop and demonstrate a practice-ready real-time online tool for evaluating surface transportation energy and emissions along with human productivity measures that utilizes existing data sources and is ready for wide-spread deployment.

The objective of the Twin Cities Electric Vehicle Community Mobility Network Project is to deploy electric vehicle (EV) charging and electric vehicles along with providing supporting outreach and education, creating a community-focused mobility network that reduces barriers to EV adoption. The EV Spot Network (formerly referred to as the Twin Cities Electric Vehicle Mobility Network) will have three unique aspects:

• EV Spot Charging: The charging hubs will be located on public roadways throughout Saint Paul and Minneapolis and operated by the cities. Each charging hub will be available for users to plug in the shared electric vehicles as well as for the public to charge privately owned electric vehicles.

• Evie Carsharing Service: HOURCAR, a local carsharing nonprofit, will operate the new carsharing service called Evie. For the first time in the Twin Cities, this carsharing service will use a one-way, semi free-floating model.

• Multifamily EV Carshare Pilot: 50 charging stations and shared electric vehicles at 25 multifamily sites.

The project will deploy electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) and electric vehicles in St. Paul, Minneapolis, and surrounding suburbs. The EVSE deployments include both Level 2 chargers as well as DC fast chargers. The vehicle deployments provide a public carsharing program and dedicated carsharing access at multi-unit dwellings. The project will also host ride and drive events as well as community events to foster a community-focused EV network.

For more information on this project, check the Technology Integration 2021 Annual Report or the 2022 Annual Merit Review presentation and the 2023 Annual Merit Review presentation.

The objective of the project is to develop and demonstrate a replicable data-driven system-level model capable of identifying transportation system performance inefficiencies to enable management strategies for improved mobility/energy efficiency.

The Unlocking Private Sector Financing for Alternative Fuel Vehicles and Fueling Infrastructure project produced comprehensive state energy planning guidelines to support alternative fuel vehicle and infrastructure use; produced a technical reference manual for utilities and policy makers to evaluate electric vehicle charging; and provided outreach to state energy officials regarding the benefits of alternative fuel use.

The objective of the project is to develop, demonstrate, and deploy a replicable program for expanding clean and affordable electrified transportation to underserved communities through electric vehicle (EV) and EV infrastructure deployment, data analysis, education, and outreach that leverages real-world data and lessons learned collected from these communities over the course of the project.

For more information on this project, check the Technology Integration 2022 Annual Report or Annual Merit Review presentation.

This project provided funding to partially offset the cost to purchase liquefied natural gas (LNG) trucks and construct a publically accessible LNG fueling station in Las Vegas, Nevada, adjacent to McCarran International Airport and the intersection of Interstates 215 and 15. UPS deployed 48 heavy-duty Class 8 LNG tractor trucks, while the station supports an additional 150 LNG vehicles in UPS’s California, Nevada, and Utah operations. The project also included an outreach effort to generate additional usage at the LNG station and ensure continued viability of the LNG corridor.

The Gas Technology Institute is collaborating with regional stakeholders to create an alternative fuel corridor along Interstate 94 from Port Huron, Michigan to Billings, Montana. The U.S. Fuels Across America’s Highways – Michigan to Montana (M2M) project will develop fueling infrastructure for electric, compressed natural gas (CNG), and propane vehicles, accelerate the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles, and establish community-based partnerships to support the corridor.

As of 2019, the M2M team has conducted a needs analysis to identify fueling gaps along the M2M corridor, coordinated with state officials to install Alternative Fuel Corridor signage in Michigan and Minnesota, and conducted outreach at two dozen events. The project has installed a combination of DC fast chargers and Level 2 chargers in Tomah, Wisconsin and Moorhead, MN; begun site planning for three publicly accessible CNG stations in Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois; and assisted CTS in adding 10 additional CNG trucks to their fleet. The project will result in a total of approximately 15 new fueling stations including electric, CNG, and propane stations and approximately 60 CNG long-haul trucks that will support stations along the corridor.

Using a Joint Procurement Process to Increase ZEV Adoption Nationwide was an effort led by CALSTART to develop a replicable and flexible multi-state zero emission vehicle (ZEV) procurement model. This project, also known as EV Smart Fleets, aimed to create a nationwide solicitation for fleets interested in purchasing ZEVs. By assisting fleets in developing and using a single procurement, the project aimed to reduce the purchase price of ZEVs and increase ZEV adoption in public fleets.

CALSTART and their project partners engaged automobile dealers, automakers, and a large network of state and municipal government fleet procurement officials to inform the process. After significant research and engagement with these stakeholders, the project identified several significant obstacles to a nationwide procurement model for ZEVs. This research and market analysis revealed that the franchised vehicle dealership model prevented a nationwide ZEV contract from occurring and that state governments are often prohibited from purchasing vehicles from out-of-state dealers. These, along with other insurmountable barriers, prevented the project from proceeding with the nationwide EV procurement solicitation.