Latest Public-Private CNG Transit Fueling Station Opens in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) representatives joined officials from Trillium CNG, Westmoreland County Transit Agency, and local officials in Westmoreland County to mark the opening of a new CNG fueling station in Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

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 five years, and Trillium is also making CNG-related upgrades to existing transit maintenance facilities.

“This P3 CNG program continues to move forward and will make use of a Pennsylvania-generated fuel resource,” said Governor Tom Wolf. “The benefits include more efficiency, cleaner burning fuels, and lower fuel costs for our transit agencies.”

As part of the conversion in Westmoreland County, the transit agency will convert 25 diesel buses and 16 paratransit buses to CNG. The authority estimates saving more than $400,000 annually based on current diesel costs and their diesel and gas usage of roughly 415,000 gallons per year.

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.

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

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

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

Crawford Area Transportation Authority (2017)
New Castle Area Transportation Authority (2017), includes public fueling.
County of Lackawanna Transportation System (2017), includes public fueling.
Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, Allentown Facility (2017)
County of Lebanon Transportation Authority (2017)
Altoona Metro Transit (2017)
Central Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Gettysburg Facility (2018)
Butler Transportation Authority (2018)
Indiana County Transportation Authority (2018), includes public fueling.
Erie Metropolitan Transportation Authority (2018), includes public fueling.
Mercer County Regional Council of Governments (2018)
Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation System (2018)
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)
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 (2021)
Port Authority of Allegheny County (2021)