“Government Technology” reports, the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) is engaged in two projects to facilitate electric bus charging. It is installing sub-surface inductive charging equipment over about a mile of campus roads and building a new transit hub where buses can charge up without the need for electric cables and wires. The new facilities are scheduled to be operational by 2028, when Los Angeles will host the Summer Olympic Games.
“The project is ultimately viewed as serving more than just buses from the UCLA transit fleet. More than a half-dozen transit operators from Southern California interact with the UCLA campus, opening up an opportunity for these vehicles to top off their charge while visiting the campus. ‘We are hoping that it won’t just be our buses that are able to use these inductive chargers in the future,’” said Clinton Bench, a university fleet and transit manager.
UCLA received $19.85 million in project grant funding from the California State Transportation Agency’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program. The grant was obtained in collaboration with CALSTART — a clean transportation nonprofit — and technology provider Electreon. Electron also is working with Michigan DOT to develop an inductive charging pilot on a one-mile stretch of road in Detroit.
A subsequent project phase would extend inductive charging infrastructure beyond the campus.