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Within one week, Sacramento Regional Transit received millions in grant funds for a little less than two dozen zero-emission buses and took a step closer to requesting an exemption to California’s ZE bus requirements.
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The California State Transportation Agency announced Thursday it to purchase 21 fuel-cell electric buses, which use hydrogen to generate electricity onboard, and pay for other zero-emission improvements.
The grant funds were awarded through the eighth cycle of the Transit Innercity Rail Program, which handed out $549.4 million to 19 projects. About , asking for nearly $4.08 billion combined.
Where the grant will go
RT’s grant award will go to its Northern Sacramento and Yolo Zero-Emission Transit Project, which includes the fuel cell buses. The funding will also help develop hydrogen fueling infrastructure and improve the agency’s bus maintenance facility in McClellan Park. So far, the transit agency has received a total of $87.6 million for the project through a combination of state, regional and local funds.
The grants will also be used to install bicycle parking, heat-resilient bus shelters and transit signal priority technology at 30 intersections. A workforce development program will be created in partnership with American River College.
The project will be carried out in phases through 2030.
Regional Transit plans to use the 21 buses to augment Route 138, increasing daily trips between Davis and Sacramento to 23 and reducing time between buses from 60 minutes to 30 minutes during peak hours, according to grant documents. The buses will also allow RT to offer 15-minute weekday service on Routes 30 and 81, which will also help with getting people to train services like Capitol Corridor and Caltrain.
The agency does not currently have fueling infrastructure for hydrogen fuel-cell buses or charging infrastructure for a large number of battery-electric buses, RT spokesperson Jessica Gonzalez said. Part of the improvements to the McClellan Park facility will include a 25,000 gallon liquid hydrogen storage system.
“This project is about more than introducing 21 hydrogen fuel cell buses,” Gonzalez said. “It is an investment in the infrastructure, technology and workforce needed to support the future of public transportation. It will also provide more frequent service on important regional connections.”
About 9% of RT’s fleet are zero-emission vehicles, Gonzalez said.
Applying for the exemption
A few days before RT was awarded the grant, its board of directors authorized the agency to seek exemptions from a California Air Resources Board requirement related to zero-emission buses.
As of this year, CARB requires 50% of the agency’s new bus purchases be zero-emission. By 2040, all transit agencies will be required to use only zero-emission buses — meaning battery electric or fuel-cell electric.
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However, Sacramento Regional Transit made two decisions earlier this year that complicated the agency’s ability to meet that goal.
Due to “current operational, infrastructure, funding and technology considerations,” RT decided to reallocate $76.8 million that was initially awarded for a similar zero-emission project with 29 fuel-cell buses, Gonzalez said in September. Instead, the money is going toward purchasing natural gas buses and rehabilitating the McClellan Park complex, though without the low-emission infrastructure. The agency’s board of directors in July approved an amendment to the 2026-27 budget to allow the switch.
The board also approved the purchase of another 49 compressed natural gas buses in August, on the condition it receives the CARB exemption.
The board approval on Monday allows and “as necessary” in 2027 and 2028, according to a board document.
RT is seeking exemptions due to “its inability to offset the incremental costs of purchasing ZEBs and associated infrastructure,” according to the board document. It is one of the conditions outlined by CARB. Also, RT does not have the equipment to fuel the hydrogen fuel-cell buses and “no existing shared hydrogen fueling station in the region can accommodate SacRT’s transit fleet.”
RT is not alone. The Sacramento Area Council of Governments is speaking with multiple transit agencies in its six-county jurisdiction about their transition to zero-emission bus fleets, spokesperson Mia Lopez said. SACOG may be applying for a regional exemption nearer to 2029, but has not yet made a decision.
If RT’s was not pursuing an exemption, it would have to purchase about 40 zero-emission buses this fiscal year, costing an additional $50 million, according to agency estimates using CARB’s cost benchmarks.
According to the board document, RT still aims to have a 100% zero-emission fleet by 2040.
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This story was originally published November 13, 2026 at 7:00 AM.