Phoenix selling $1.5M hydrogen-powered bus it bought just two years ago

Sitting in a secure, undisclosed location in a Phoenix Transit Department lot, one that is not accessible to the public, is a bus that looks like any other driving around the Valley. 

But there is something that makes this bus stand out. 

Unlike the rest of the fleet, which runs on fossil fuels, this one is fueled by hydrogen.

The city of Phoenix bought the hydrogen-fueled bus in 2024 to further its efforts toward zero-emissions public transportation. 

In simple terms, the bus works by the flow of hydrogen to a fuel cell, which then mixes with oxygen to create enough energy to power an electric motor. 

The bus cost the city $1.5 million dollars. The gas-powered versions cost $560,000, and an electric bus ranges from $739,000 to $850,000, according to a report by Valley Metro. 

There was one minor detail: The city didn’t have any hydrogen fuel providers. 

“During that time, there were plans of their companies being here that would provide fuel, hydrogen fuel, but because there currently isn’t for X amount of reasons,” said Carmen DeAlba, a representative from Phoenix’s Public Transit Department. “We just don’t have the infrastructure to provide hydrogen fuel for our bus, so we just decided to stop.”

In the original deal with New Flyer America, one of the world’s largest bus manufacturers, Phoenix planned to purchase six hydrogen fuel-cell buses in 2023. But according to DeAlba, the deal was downsized to the pilot bus since the city didn’t have access to hydrogen. 

The money to buy these buses came from a grant under President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The Phoenix department was set to receive $16,362,600. 

“The City of Phoenix Public Transportation Department will receive funding to buy hydrogen fuel cell buses, battery electric buses and charging equipment as well as worker training as part of the initial phase of the city’s zero-emission transition plan,” according to the federal grant award.  

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego blamed President Donald Trump’s administration for the project’s failure. 

“There was, several years ago, huge momentum for hydrogen fuel in Arizona, incredible economic development announcements in the hundreds of millions of dollars,” Gallego said. “With the change in … Washington, D.C., there, many of the announcements have since decided they will not go forward.”

Despite losing the grant money, the city is still trying to position itself to be closer to zero emissions. 

“We don’t know for the future,” DeAlba said. “We can revisit it always later on. But for now, we’re more focusing on those battery and hybrid buses.”

In a unanimous vote, the Phoenix City Council approved the sale of the bus to any interested buyer. In its report to the council, the Public Transit Department said Santa Clara, Calif., was interested in the bus.  

“So the bus costs are a little over $1.5 million, and we would be getting the amount we paid for,” DeAlba said.

In an ironic twist, the transportation of the bus will likely be secured on top of a flatbed truck installed with outriggers and powered by a reliable mix of octane, heptane and benzene compounds – better known to most motorists as gasoline.

This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.