North Central Texas Council of Governments
At a Glance
Industry
Government/Public Administration
Project Types
Clean and Renewable Energy, Zero Emission Vehicles, Freight and Logistics, Goals/Targets
Year
2021
Location
Arlington, TX
Summary
Lindsay Shigetomi created a replicable fleet electrification planning process to facilitate government fleet electrification in the North Central Texas region.
Goals
The North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) provides local governments with comprehensive regional planning support. NCTCOG also hosts the Dallas-Fort Worth Clean Cities Coalition which assists fleets to increase efficiency and reduce emissions as 10 counties in the Dallas-Fort Worth area are classified as nonattainment for ozone. NCTCOG has seen increased interest from local government fleets seeking to transition to zero emission electrified vehicles. Many local governments recognize the benefits electrified vehicles can bring and request assistance with the electrification planning process. To meet this growing demand, NCTCOG enlisted Climate Corps Fellow Lindsay Shigetomi to analyze government fleets and create a replicable fleet electrification planning process for NCTCOG to increase fleet electrification throughout the region.
Solutions
Lindsay worked with NCTCOG and two local government fleet managers to collect and analyze data, identify opportunities and barriers, and finally create local government vehicle electrification planning guidance. Taking raw fleet data, Lindsay’s analysis identified fleet operational requirements and matched operational needs with available electrification technologies. Working with the fleet managers, Lindsay identified opportunities to introduce these zero emission vehicles to each fleet. Through this collaborative work, Lindsay also identified challenges to implementing new programs and pulled from her management experience and created a toolkit for the fleet managers to use as they secure approval for electrification project proposals. This toolkit utilized multi-sectoral evidence that quantified financial benefits, quantified environmental impact, and tracked vehicle market and policy projections.
Potential Impact
Lindsay’s work to create this fleet electrification planning process for NCTCOG ensures that local governments throughout the region can reduce their fleet vehicle emissions and secure financial benefits from a clean electric fleet. In addition to the fleet electrification toolkit, Lindsay’s work proposed a multi-phase pilot to introduce zero emission electric vehicles to the City of Mesquite’s vehicle fleet. This pilot included recommendations for light-duty sedans, light-duty work trucks, and for long-term planning to increase uptake of zero-emission electrified vehicles. Lindsay’s analysis shows that adoption of only 5 electric sedans and 5 electric trucks in this early pilot would save the City of Mesquite upwards of $40,000 and divert nearly 3,000 lbs CO2 over the life of the vehicles compared to equivalent gasoline vehicles. In the near term, adoption of these light-duty vehicle pilots would demonstrate the feasibility of introducing electric vehicles to the City’s fleet. Successful pilots would encourage increased adoption of electric vehicles with the potential of saving the city over $750,000 by converting the City’s light duty vehicles to electric over their gasoline powered equivalents.