The Orange County Transportation Authority is moving ahead with a second hydrogen fueling station as it prepares to expand its fuel cell bus fleet from 10 vehicles to 50.
Clean Energy Fuels will design and build the received the $27.5 million private station at OCTA’s Garden Grove bus base, as well as provide facility upgrades, operations and maintenance services, and the liquid hydrogen used by the fleet. The project is expected to be completed in 2028.
OCTA currently runs 10 hydrogen fuel cell buses and expects to add 40 more by the time the Garden Grove station is completed. The agency also operates battery-electric and compressed natural gas buses as it evaluates the technologies that will support its transition to a fully zero-emission fleet by 2040.
OCTA’s first hydrogen station at its Santa Ana bus base opened in 2020. At the time, the facility was described as the largest transit-operated hydrogen station in the country. The Garden Grove project follows OCTA’s November 2024 approval to purchase 40 New Flyer hydrogen fuel cell buses and 10 battery-electric buses. The vehicles will replace compressed natural gas buses reaching the end of their useful service lives.
The order builds on pilot programs OCTA launched with 10 hydrogen fuel cell buses in 2020 and 10 battery-electric buses in 2022. Operating both technologies has allowed the agency to compare their performance under local route and service conditions before making larger fleet investments.
The agency is also updating its zero-emission bus transition plan through a study scheduled to conclude in summer 2027. The review will examine future service needs, facility requirements, charging and fueling infrastructure, funding opportunities, and the potential mix of battery-electric and hydrogen fuel cell buses.
