Overview

The Advanced Transit Vehicle Consortium (ATVC) was established in 1995 as a joint venture between Metro, the City of Los Angeles, the County of Los Angeles and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

ATVC’s mission is to encourage the development of advanced transit vehicle technologies, particularly in areas of high capacity transit vehicles, low emission propulsion technologies, and advanced composite vehicle structures.

Additionally, ATVC serves in an advisory capacity to Metro’s Board of Directors and is responsible for helping Metro implement new transit technologies that can reduce emissions, improve operating efficiencies or provide enhancements in the quality of Metro’s transit services.

Registered in the State of California as an independent 501.C.3, ATVC has invested over $10 million in research and development projects in areas that show promise for improving transit services in the greater Los Angeles region.

Projects

Composite Buses

Following ATVC recommendations, in 2002 LA Metro took steps to develop a bus fleet that used advanced, lightweight, all-composite vehicle structures. Since that time, LA Metro has become the world’s leading operator of advanced all-composite transit buses, and over 300 composite transit buses are currently in operation at LA Metro.

Metro has plans to procure several hundred more composite buses in the coming year. These composite buses have already proven to be highly durable and more cost effective than conventional transit buses. 

Advanced Hybrid Bus

In 2009, ATVC purchased and delivered six advanced hybrid buses, and these buses were put into revenue service.  All six buses are currently operating daily as part of Metro’s bus fleet. 

ZEB - Battery Bus

ATVC has partnered with ISE Research in San Diego to convert one Metro bus into all-electric operation.  A Metro bus was delivered to ISE in 2008 for this modification work, and the modified vehicle is scheduled to be delivered back to Metro in late 2010.

Advanced Vehicle Electrification

As a follow-up to the Hybrid Bus demonstration, ATVC has continued to experiment with vehicle electrification, and continues to experiment with electrification of several key vehicle components, including all-electric vehicle cooling systems and air conditioners. The goal of this program is to further improve the efficiency and reliability of these systems.

HCNG Demonstration Project

In 2007, ATVC and AQMD partnered with City Engines of Reno, NV, to explore the development of a new engine that can run on a blended gaseous fuel made up of 30% hydrogen and 70% methane. This technology was demonstrated in a test cell successfully, but the project partners lacked the resources to implement this technology in actual vehicle operation. Project activities were suspended in 2008.

Contacts

Advanced Transit Vehicle Consortium

900 Lyon Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Tel: 213.922.5882 

Directors/Alternates

Pam O’Conner/Michael Bohlke, Chair
Michael Antonovich/Michael Cano
Dr. William Burke/Dr. Chung Liu

John Fasana
Antonio Villaraigosa/Jaime De La Vega
Zev Yaroslavsky/Vivian Rescalvo

President

Richard Hunt

Executive Vice President

John Drayton

Chief Financial Officer

Josie Nicasio