Progress Update: CAR Goal 4 - County Fleet Sustainability & Emissions Reductions

Climate Action and Resiliency Goal 4 “Maximize sustainability and emissions reductions in all County Fleet vehicles” has three objectives:

1. Where feasible, phase out County (owned or leased) gasoline powered light-duty cars, vans, and pickups to achieve a 30% zero-emission vehicle light-duty fleet by 2026.
2. Invest in the County’s employee Clean Commute program to promote use of alternate modes of transportation, including bike and carpool incentives, and last mile solutions connecting bus and train stations to County worksites.
3. Upgrade the existing County owned Electric Vehicle charging station infrastructure by 2023.

Objective 1: Where feasible, phase out County (owned or leased) gasoline powered light-duty cars, vans, and pickups to achieve a 30% zero-emission vehicle light-duty fleet by 2026.

As July 1, 2023, 78 of Fleet’s 908 light duty vehicles have been converted to zero-emissions (8.6% of total).  Despite supply constraints and several vehicle cancellations, replacement vehicles received during FY22-23 included the Ford F150 Lightning, Ford E-Transit, Ford Escape Plug-In, Chevrolet Bolt, Toyota RAV4 Prime, and Toyota Prius Prime.  For FY23-24, 50 vehicles are due for replacement and staff expects 30% of them to be replaced with zero-emission options.  This would bring the total EV percentage to over 10%.  Replacements are funded through Fleet’s Accumulated Capital Outlay account, which collects monthly payments from County Departments for future vehicle purchases.  In FY24-25 and FY25-26, Fleet expects an accelerated adoption of zero-emissions vehicles to meet the 2026 deadline as more vehicle makes and models are made available, and EV charging infrastructure continues to grow. 

In addition, Sonoma County Transit is working to electrify its bus fleet.  There are currently three all-electric buses in the county’s 49-bus fleet.  In January of 2023, your Board authorized the purchase of 10 new electric buses to replace natural gas-powered buses.  The new buses will be deployed on Sonoma County Transit’s main intercity routes that operate between Monte Rio, Santa Rosa and Sonoma (Routes 20 and 30), and between Petaluma, Santa Rosa and Cloverdale (Routes 44, 48 and 60).  The California Air Resources Board requires that all new public transit buses purchased after 2029 be zero-emission vehicles, with a goal that all fossil-fueled buses in California be retired by 2040. With this purchase, Sonoma County Transit would have approximately 40 percent of its fleet electrically powered.

Objective 2: Invest in the County’s employee Clean Commute program to promote use of alternate modes of transportation, including bike and carpool incentives, and last mile solutions connecting bus and train stations to County worksites.

Using funding awarded by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) to reduce the drive-alone rates for large employers in the Bay Area, the County launched its Online Trip Tracker in May 2022.  The Online Trip Tracker allows employees to log their telework and alternate commute days, sign up for pre-tax commuter benefits, and find a carpool.  For every telework day or alternate commute trip logged, the system automatically calculates the amount of money saved, calories burned, and CO2 emissions reduced.  Since its inception, County employees have logged 138,711 trips into the Online Trip Tracker and saved 711 metric tons of CO2. 

In January 2023, the County launched the Clean Commute Incentive Program using Strategic Plan Round 1 funding ($150,000).  The incentive program encourages the use of alternative modes of transportation by providing a $40 per month subsidy to permanent employees who ride the train, bus, carpool, bike or walk to work a certain number of days in a six-month period.  For the January to June 2023 reporting period, 60 employees qualified for the incentive earning a total of $14,400 in incentives. 

In the coming year, we will be working with our local transit partners to improve bus connections and make it easier for employees to ride.        

Objective 3: Upgrade the existing County owned Electric Vehicle charging station infrastructure by 2023.

Extended lead times for EV charging hardware has been a challenge for most of FY22-23.  As of July 1, 2023, 16 out-of-service ports had been replaced and upgraded.  The replaced and upgraded sites include the following:  2300 County Center Dr (6 ports), 1202 Apollo Way (4 ports), 2550 Ventura Ave (2 ports), and 1351 Maple Ave (4 ports).  In addition, new EV charging stations have been added to support County Fleet vehicle charging at the following sites: 300 Fiscal Dr (6 ports) and 1375 N Dutton Ave (4 ports).

There are several sites planned for new EV charging stations.  Regional Parks has received Climate Resiliency funding ($236,000) to install EV charging stations at Ragle Ranch, Taylor Mountain, and North Sonoma Mountain, and the Strategic Plan funding ($17,500) for Maxwell Park.  Fleet will also be coordinating with the Sheriff’s Office to electrify patrol vehicles and install 13 new ports at 2796 Ventura Ave, funded with the Climate Resiliency funding ($685,000).  Finally, new charging stations are planned for the ISD building at 2680 Ventura Ave, funded with Strategic Plan funding ($28,000).