{"id":2270297,"date":"2024-06-18T09:01:02","date_gmt":"2024-06-18T13:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/king-county-metros-2035-zero-emission-goal-faces-many-bumps-in-the-road-audit\/"},"modified":"2024-06-18T09:10:16","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T13:10:16","slug":"king-county-metros-2035-zero-emission-goal-faces-many-bumps-in-the-road-audit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/king-county-metros-2035-zero-emission-goal-faces-many-bumps-in-the-road-audit\/","title":{"rendered":"King County Metro&#8217;s 2035 zero-emission target encounters significant obstacles, according to an audit"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fking-county-metros-2035-zero-emission-goal-faces-many-bumps-in-the-road-audit%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2270297&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>An audit in King County\u200b has revealed several <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/solomon-court-decision-deals-body-blow-after-biden-admin-tried-to-block-corporate-move\/\" title=\"Solomon: Biden Admin's Block Fails as Court Deals Body Blow to Corporate Move.\">challenges\u200d faced<\/a> by the King County Metro Department in their initiative to electrify their bus \u200cfleet \u2064by 2035. The audit pointed out risks \u2064such \u200bas potential loss of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/proterras-bust-highlights-big-problems-for-the-future-of-electric-vehicles-as-mass-transit\/\" title=\"Proterra's failure exposes major issues for the future of electric mass transit.\">bus manufacturers<\/a>, technology constraints, adequate electricity supplies, and \u2063subpar performance of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/proterra-lurches-into-damage-control-mode-in-wake-of-free-beacon-reports\/\" title=\"Proterra Lurches Into Damage-Control Mode in Wake of Free Beacon Reports\">battery-electric<\/a>\u2064 buses. Currently,\u200c Metro operates \u200b1,400 buses, with\u2064 only about 40 being \u2064battery-electric, although an additional 89 are expected by 2026. Significant fund allocation ($180.5 million) is made for acquiring 120 more battery-electric buses by 2024. Despite these efforts, daily outages affect approximately 50% of\u2064 battery-electric New Flyer buses. \u2063To \u2064address these concerns, the department is considering hydrogen fuel cell buses, \u200calthough this\u200b shift has not been \u2062officially communicated to the King County Council. The\u2063 department is also\u200b supported by\u2064 $33 million \u2062from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/manchin-renews-attacks-on-biden-ev-plan-spits-in-the-face-of-rural-america\/\" title=\"Manchin criticizes Biden's EV plan, calls it disrespectful to rural America\">federal funds aimed<\/a> at buying electric buses and charging systems \u200cto help reduce emissions significantly; the\u2062 bus \u200dsector currently generates \u200c43% of the county&#8217;s greenhouse \u2062gas emissions. The overall projected cost for capital projects \u2064to facilitate this transition\u2063 is estimated at $782 million.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2013 A King County audit revealed that the King County Metro Department faces significant challenges regarding its goal of electrifying its entire bus fleet by 2035.<\/p>\n<p>King County auditors flagged risks including the loss of bus manufacturers, technology limitations, sufficient electricity supply, and lagging battery-electric bus performance.<\/p>\n<p>Metro\u2019s entire bus fleet consists of 1,400 buses. Currently, around 40 of those buses are battery-electric. King County Metros stated that\u00a0another 89 buses are scheduled to begin arriving in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>The 2023-2024 King County budget dedicated $180.5 million for the purchase of 120 more battery-electric buses in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>In March 2024, Metro reported that roughly 50% of its battery-electric New Flyer buses were out of service on any given day.<\/p>\n<p>Auditors also noted that <a href=\"https:\/\/kingcountymetro.blog\/2024\/06\/11\/metro-explores-hydrogen-fuel-cell-buses-to-reduce-emissions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Metro is exploring hydrogen fuel cell buses<\/strong><\/a> as a way to mitigate some of these risks, but the department has not communicated this shift in strategy to the King County Council.<\/p>\n<p>King County Metro\u2019s bus operations create 43% of the county government\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions, according to the audit.<\/p>\n<p>King County Metro Transit received $33 million in federal funds in the 2023 fiscal year to buy battery-electric buses and charging equipment through this program. <\/p>\n<p>The funds stem from the U.S. Federal Transit Administration\u2019s Low or No Emission grant program, which distributed $5.5 billion in funding in 2022 to help transit agencies buy vehicles that emit low or zero emissions.<\/p>\n<p>The current total estimated cost for King County Metro\u2019s capital projects intended to support its transition to a zero<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gov-newsom-embarrasses-california-in-meeting-dictator-xi-in-china\/\" title=\"Gov. Newsom's meeting with Dictator Xi in China brings shame to California.\">-emission bus fleet<\/a> is $782 million. However, all projects are still in process and the figures are subject to change.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/cdn.kingcounty.gov\/-\/media\/king-county\/independent\/governance-and-leadership\/government-oversight\/auditors-office\/reports\/audits\/2024\/zero-emissions\/zero-emissions-2024.pdf?rev=4b7f53afc54441809d5e2a2bdead1127&#038;hash=F81C20616F7C55BC443DE13D3D546599\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>audit<\/strong><\/a> revealed that the number of companies that manufacture zero-emission transit buses has fallen in recent years. In 2020, there were five companies that manufactured zero-emission transit buses, but that number dropped to two by this year. <\/p>\n<p>Manufacturers cited supply chain disruption and inflation as factors in their decisions to leave the U.S. market.<\/p>\n<p>Metro staff indicated that additional European manufacturers could become an option in the U.S., but as of April they have not committed to the U.S. market.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/kingcounty.gov\/en\/dept\/metro\/programs-and-projects\/zero-emissions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>county\u2019s goal<\/strong><\/a> of electrifying its bus fleet by 2035 is ambitious compared to other U.S. cities. Many other jurisdictions have zero emissions goals by 2040 or later, including New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Portland. <\/p>\n<p>Only Los Angeles County\u2019s bus electrification goal has a shorter goal of a zero-emission bus fleet by 2030. However, that agency staff said the 2030 goal is not achievable in the current market context and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board is discussing whether to shift the goal.<\/p>\n<p>In short, the King County Auditor\u2019s Office recommends Metro improve communication about its efforts to explore hydrogen fuel cell buses and implement a strategy to make best use of collaborative delivery methods and take steps to formalize procurement, safety collaboration, and government relations in capital projects.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A King County audit found that the Metro Department faces major hurdles in electrifying its bus fleet by 2035. Challenges include potential loss of bus manufacturers, technology constraints, inadequate electricity supply, and subpar performance of battery-electic buses<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2270298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/seattle-1024x598.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2270297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/seattle-1024x598.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2270297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2270297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2270298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2270297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2270297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2270297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}