by Jaimie Levin

“I can't believe it, but a fuel cell bus (FC7 no less – AC Transit’s lead fuel cell with more than 10,000 hours of service) arrived at my stop this morning to take me to work, and it was packed with a whole lot of happy passengers. Most of the passengers were going about their own business, some sleeping, and others reading the overhead signage about the technology.

This bus is absolutely amazing -- quiet, unbelievably smooth, and a real pleasure to ride. The bus is so quiet that I picked up conversation with two other passengers. I'm forgoing my normal transfer to Bart in downtown Berkeley to ride this bus all the way to my office in downtown Oakland.

We have to stay the course. There isn't the slightest doubt that this IS the technology of the present and the future and that it will unquestionably change our cities and our environment for the better.

My hat is off to everyone who has made this possible. What a splendidly magnificent invention!”

To learn more about the AC Transit program, please visit: http://www.actransit.org/

AC Transit is one of the largest public transit operators in the United States, with a fleet of nearly 800 buses and an annual ridership of over 70 million passengers. It serves over 1.3 million people living in 13 cities in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area, including Oakland, Berkeley, Newark, and Fremont. In November 1999, AC Transit had the opportunity to briefly operate and test a prototype hydrogen fuel cell bus, and concluded that this technology is one of the most significant environmental promises of the future. It subsequently became a member of the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) and embarked upon an aggressive fundraising campaign that resulted in nearly $14 million in state, local, and federal grants to support a fuel cell demonstration program.