Skip to main content

US, China kick off Race to Zero Emissions Challenge

US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and China’s Minister of Transport Yang Chuantang unveiled the US-China Race to Zero Emissions (R2ZE) Challenge during the eighth US-China Transportation Forum in Los Angeles and invited cities and transit agencies in the two countries to join in. The R2ZE Challenge is a collaborative and friendly competition that encourages cities and metropolitan transit districts in the US and China to deploy innovative and advanced non-polluting zero emission buses (ZEBs) in th
June 6, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and China’s Minister of Transport Yang Chuantang unveiled the US-China Race to Zero Emissions (R2ZE) Challenge during the eighth US-China Transportation Forum in Los Angeles and invited cities and transit agencies in the two countries to join in.

The R2ZE Challenge is a collaborative and friendly competition that encourages cities and metropolitan transit districts in the US and China to deploy innovative and advanced non-polluting zero emission buses (ZEBs) in their transit systems.

Secretary Foxx and Minister Yang Chuantang also signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to further cement the transportation partnership between the two countries and their cooperation in other areas of mutual interest.  These areas of interest include safety, innovation and technology, energy efficiency, urban congestion, and public private partnerships.

The Race to Zero Emissions Challenge aims to reduce greenhouse gas and criteria emissions while fostering demand and innovation for zero emission heavy-duty vehicle technology.  The R2ZE Challenge calls for a long-term commitment by transit agencies to expand green-energy transit fleets with interim targets and a finish line.

The targets are considered met when buses are deployed and remain in revenue service on an annual basis.  Each target is based on the percentage of the operator’s bus fleet in revenue service that produces zero tailpipe emissions.  In both the US and China, the goal is to have at least 35 per cent of a participating city’s bus fleet comprised of ZEBs by 2025.

Related Content

  • Get bus orders GNG buses from New Flyer
    November 24, 2017
    Golden Empire Transit District (GET bus) has awarded transit bus and motor coach manufacturer New Flyer of America with a contract for 24 Xcelsior compressed natural gas transit buses. The order supports Get Bus’s focus on environmental sustainability.
  • Get bus orders CNG buses from New Flyer
    November 27, 2017
    Golden Empire Transit District (GET bus) has awarded transit bus and motor coach manufacturer New Flyer of America with a contract for 24 Xcelsior compressed natural gas transit buses. The order supports Get Bus’s focus on environmental sustainability. This new contract for the forty-foot, heavy duty transit buses also supports plans for aged fleet replacement. Wayne Joseph, president of New Flyer of America, said: "We are proud to help advance Get bus in its pursuit of fleet revitalization and
  • Need for simpler urban tolling solutions
    January 10, 2013
    A common assumption, even amongst informed observers, is that there’s but a handful of urban charging schemes in operation around the world and scant prospect of that changing any time soon. Larger city-sized schemes such as Singapore, London and Stockholm come readily to mind but if we take a wider view and also consider urban access control and Low Emission Zones (LEZs) then the picture changes rather radically. There is a notable concentration of such schemes in Europe but worldwide the number is comfort
  • Bright shiny green future: Asecap Sustainability Forum
    August 30, 2023
    Knowing your company’s carbon footprint is one thing, but the real issue is understanding and reporting to investors Scope 3 emissions. David Arminas reports from the 2nd Asecap Sustainability Forum in Vienna, Austria