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Taft council adopts zero-emission bus rollout plan over concerns about costs and reliability
Summary
The Taft City Council voted 3-2 on June 2 to adopt a 2026 zero-emission bus rollout plan required by the California Air Resources Board, after council members raised concerns about battery life, charging infrastructure costs and potential safety risks.
Taft’s City Council on June 2 approved the city’s 2026 zero-emission bus rollout plan, a compliance step under the California Air Resources Board’s Initiative Clean Transit regulation that requires public transit fleets to move toward zero-emission vehicles by 2040.
City Manager Craig Jones told the council the plan selects battery-electric transit vehicles and that the city expects delivery later this year of five battery-electric medium-duty transit vehicles and has secured grant funds to construct solar charging infrastructure to support a microgrid charging facility. “This plan was prepared by city staff in collaboration with the city’s public transit consultant,” Jones said, describing the funding and the state regulation as the drivers for the submission.
The decision was contested. Council members questioned the long-term costs of battery-electric buses, the replacement schedule and expense for large lithium-ion battery packs, and the resiliency of charging infrastructure on rural routes. Council member Waldrop warned about fire risk, saying battery vehicles “can be very dangerous” and advising caution around incidents where fires occur.
Several council members said the city applied for one-time grants to pay for the transition and intends to retain some diesel or gasoline backup vehicles for redundancy. City staff explained the transit facility is being designed as a microgrid—intended to include on-site solar and infrastructure to minimize reliance on external power—while retaining PG&E interconnection for backup.
After discussion, the council moved to adopt the resolution directing the assistant finance director to file the rollout plan with CARB. The roll-call vote recorded Council member Crier "yes," Mayor Proen Bryant "yes," Council member Waldrop "no," Council member Shira "yes," and Mayor Nor "no." The measure passed 3-2.
What happens next: staff will proceed with the grant-funded charging infrastructure design and the procurement/delivery schedule described in the plan and will report back as the project advances. The council’s debate highlighted implementation concerns that staff will need to address in follow-up reports, including operational redundancy, battery lifecycle replacement planning and local emergency response protocols for electric vehicle incidents.
