Attainment Spotlight
In 2004 the regional transportation agency serving the San Francisco Bay Area, the MetropolitanTransportation Commission (MTC), provided funding to all transit districts in the nine Bay Area counties and to several major refuse collection companies to retrofittheir in-use diesel buses and refuse trucks with an innovative, diesel particulate filter (DPF) that reduces both NOx and PM.
This DPF system, the Longview®, is sold, installed, and serviced by a nationwide network of authorized dealers. In addition, the Longview has been verified by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for a 25% NOx reduction and an 85% PM reduction. This CARB verification is also recognized by the US EPA.
AC Transit (Alameda County), County Connection (Contra Costa County), MUNI (San Francisco), VTA (Santa Clara County), Golden Gate Transit (Marin County), SamTrans (San Mateo County) and several other transit properties retrofitted a total of 1,600 buses. As a result, there will be a verified NOx reduction of 360 tons per year. The MTC can use these reductions in their conformity determination. The bus retrofits will also provide the Bay Area with 35 tons per year of diesel PM reductions. “We evaluated all the different retrofit systems out there and concluded that the Longview was the most reliable. The fact that it provides NOx reductions along with PM reductions was an added bonus and allowed us to receive funding from the MTC,” said Rick Fernandez, General Manager of AC Transit.
NorCal Waste Systems, ACI, BFI and several other major refuse companies in the Bay Area received combined funding from the MTC and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) to retrofit 254 in-use diesel refuse collection trucks with the Longview DPF. Bennie Anselmo, Vice President of Nor-Cal Waste Systems, chose the Longview because of its reliability and his confidence in the product support provided by his local dealer. “We’re confident that the Longview is the
best choice for us and the funding from the Air District and the MTC makes it possible for NorCal to deliver 24 tons per
year of surplus NOx emissions that can be used for regional attainment and conformity,” said Mr. Anselmo.
The MTC has put over $20 million into diesel retrofits using DPFs on transit buses and refuse trucks in the Bay Area. The
partnership between the MTC and the Air District has led to significant benefits in regional air quality and community
toxics exposure. The transit districts are very pleased with their retrofits and the MTC funding partnership with the
Air District on refuse truck retrofits has been a win for both agencies, regional air quality and community toxics exposure.
The BAAQMD has also found diesel retrofits to be an excellent strategy for making progress toward air quality goals.
“The Bay Area Air District is very pleased with our partnership with the MTC and with the retrofit projects that we
have funded. Air quality improvement resulting from this project allows us all to breathe cleaner air.” said Jack Broadbent,
Executive Officer for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.