Biodiesel / GTL Diesel Field Test Design
Three fuels — B20 biodiesel, GTL diesel, and ULSD — will be tested:
- On 22 buses
- Driving over 400,000 total miles
- Using over 100,000 total gallons of fuel
- Carrying over 1.5 million passengers
- Over a period of six months
Eighteen of these 22 buses will operate under strictly controlled conditions, while the other four will operate under a variety of conditions. AC Transit and Chevron plan to make the test results publicly available on this web site and elsewhere once the test is complete.
Current Bus Location
GPS (global positioning satellite) units on the test buses allow you to see exactly where each test bus is operating in near-real time. Just click on the bus number or the asterisk in the table below to open a Google map showing current bus location. You can also click here to see all buses in the test.
- ULSD
- Biodiesel
- GTL
- Current position in the test (X)
Group 1
mostly city, 18,000 miles
| (miles completed) | Bus 1
Veh #: 2154 Route: 1R |
Bus 2
Veh #: 2155 Route: 1R |
Bus 3
Veh #: 2156 Route: 1R |
Bus 4
Veh #: 2153 Route: 1R |
Bus 5
Veh #: 2152 Route: 1R |
Bus 6
Veh #: 2151 Route: 1R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First 6,000 miles | ULSD | ULSD | Biodiesel | Biodiesel | GTL | GTL |
| Next 6,000 miles | Biodiesel | GTL | GTL | ULSD | ULSD | Biodiesel |
| Final 6,000 miles | GTL | Biodiesel | ULSD | GTL | Biodiesel | ULSD |
Group 2
mostly highway, 18,000 miles
| (miles completed) | Bus 7
Veh #: 2101 Route: NL |
Bus 8
Veh #: 2104 Route: NL |
Bus 9
Veh #: 2102 Route: NL |
Bus 10
Veh #: 2106 Route: NL |
Bus 11
Veh #: 2105 Route: NL |
Bus 12
Veh #: 2103 Route: NL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First 6,000 miles | ULSD | ULSD | Biodiesel | Biodiesel | GTL | GTL |
| Next 6,000 miles | Biodiesel | GTL | GTL | ULSD | ULSD | Biodiesel |
| Final 6,000 miles | GTL | Biodiesel | ULSD | GTL | Biodiesel | ULSD |
Group 3
endurance, 18,000 miles
| (miles completed) | Bus 13
Veh #: 2157 Route: 1R |
Bus 14
Veh #: 2157 Route: 1R |
Bus 15
Veh #: 2162 Route: 1R |
Bus 16
Veh #: 2158 Route: 1R |
Bus 17
Veh #: 2160 Route: 1R |
Bus 18
Veh #: 2161 Route: 1R |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First 6,000 miles | ULSD | ULSD | Biodiesel | Biodiesel | GTL | GTL |
| Next 6,000 miles | ULSD | ULSD | Biodiesel | Biodiesel | GTL | GTL |
| Final 6,000 miles | ULSD | ULSD | Biodiesel | Biodiesel | GTL | GTL |
The 22 test buses are divided into four groups. The first three groups, of six buses each, will operate under strictly controlled conditions on fixed routes. The six buses in Group One will operate primarily in city conditions, while the six buses in Group Two will operate on an AC Transit Transbay route, accruing highway miles. The twelve buses in Groups One and Two will each carry one of the three test fuels for 6,000 miles - approximately two months. Engines and emissions will be examined, then each of these twelve buses will switch to the next fuel for 6,000 miles. The evaluation process will be repeated until each of these twelve buses has been tested with each of the three fuels.
The six buses in Group Three will each use only one of the fuels for the duration of the test. These six buses will be studied for such issues as endurance.
The four buses in Group Four will each use only one fuel for the duration of the test (two will carry GTL diesel and two will carry biodiesel). These buses will rotate throughout AC Transit's service area as part of an operational test.
Group 4
operational test, variable miles, variable routes
| Bus 19
Veh #: 2107 Route: P,PF |
Bus 20
Veh #: 2108 Route: L,LA |
Bus 21
Veh #: 2110 Route: NX,O,L |
Bus 22
Veh #: 2109 Route: U |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable mileage Variable routes |
GTL (X) | GTL (X) | Biodiesel (X) | Biodiesel (X) |
