Trillium Opens Additional CNG Transit Fueling Station in Pennsylvania

The Administration of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced the formal opening and the start of service at one of the 29 CNG fueling stations planned as part of a Public Private Partnership. Officials from PennDOT, Trillium CNG, and IndiGO-Indiana marked the start of fueling at the facility in the City of Indiana.

“This addition to our growing ranks of transit-based CNG stations means savings for transit operators and a step towards a better environment,” Governor Wolf said. “CNG-fueled vehicles translate into better efficiency, cleaner burning fuels and lower fuel costs.”

Through the $84.5 million statewide P3 project, Trillium is designing, building, financing and will operate and maintain CNG fueling stations at 29 public transit agency sites through a 20-year P3 agreement. Other stations will be constructed over the next several years, and Trillium is also making CNG-related upgrades to existing transit maintenance facilities.

As part of the conversion, IndiGO-Indiana will replace its current 13 CNG buses with new buses powered by natural gas. In addition to the transit bus fueling, the Indiana station will be open to the public twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

PennDOT’s overall P3 project includes CNG fueling accessible to the public at six transit agency sites, with the option to add to sites in the future. PennDOT will receive a 15 percent royalty, excluding taxes, for each gallon of fuel sold to the public at public sites, which will be used to support the cost of the project.

Using the P3 procurement mechanism allows PennDOT to install the fueling stations faster than if a traditional procurement mechanism were used for each site, resulting in significant estimated capital cost savings of more than $46 million.

To date, stations have opened at:

Cambria County Transportation Authority, Johnstown Facility, includes public fueling.
Mid Mon Valley Transportation Authority.
Central Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, York Facility, includes public fueling.
Cambria County Transportation Authority, Ebensburg Facility
Westmoreland County Transportation Authority
Centre Area Transportation Authority
Beaver County Transit Agency
Crawford Area Transportation Authority
New Castle Area Transportation Authority, includes public fueling.
County of Lebanon Transportation Authority
Altoona Metro Transit
Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, Allentown Facility
Central Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Gettysburg Facility

A list of other agencies participating in the P3 project, in order of construction-start timeline:

Butler Transportation Authority (2018)
Erie Metropolitan Transportation Authority (2019), includes public fueling.
Mercer County Regional Council of Governments (2019)
Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation System (2019)
Monroe County Transportation Authority (2019)
Area Transportation Authority of North Central PA, Bradford Facility (2019)
Area Transportation Authority of North Central PA, Johnsonburg Facility (2019)
County of Lackawanna Transportation System (2020), includes public fueling.
Area Transportation Authority of North Central PA, DuBois Facility (2020)
Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, Easton Facility (2021)
Luzerne County Transportation Authority (2021)
Schuylkill Transportation System (2021)
Transit Authority of Warren County (2021)
Capital Area Transit
Port Authority of Allegheny County

When the project is completed, the fueling stations will supply gas to more than 1,600 CNG buses at transit agencies across the state.