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

  • EU Transport Commissioner encourages cross-border cooperation
    May 25, 2016
    Opening the 2016 General Assembly of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Smart Cities and Communities (EIP SCC) which aims to improve urban life through more sustainable integrated solutions in transport, energy and ICT sectors, European Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc challenged cities and companies to cooperate across borders, to accelerate and scale investment. She said: "Cleaner air, safer transport networks, reducing congestion, optimising use of existing infrastructure – these are just
  • Pollution has more than one solution
    April 7, 2014
    Professor Alexander Baklanov of the World Meteorological Organization talks to Colin Sowman about the difficulties of reducing urban pollution. The inhabitants of Beijing have recently been suffering pollution levels 20 times the World Health Organisation’s recommended limit while the European Union is revitalising its efforts to implement and enforce air quality standards. Almost inevitably much of the clean-up efforts are likely to focus on traffic planners and engineers.
  • Report analyses multiple ITS projects to highlight cost and benefits
    March 16, 2015
    Every year in America cost benefit analysis is carried out on dozens of ITS installations and pilot studies and the findings, along with the lessons learned, are entered into the Department of Transportation’s (USDOT’s) web-based ITS Knowledge Resources database. This database holds more than 1,600 reports and periodically the USDOT reviews the material on file to draw conclusions from this wider body of evidence. It has just published one such review ITS Benefits, Costs, and Lessons Learned: 2014 Update Re
  • City of Cardiff Council joins Compact of Mayors
    December 23, 2015
    The City of Cardiff Council is the latest member of the Compact of Mayors, a commitment by city leaders across the world to address climate change, by reducing greenhouse gases and setting an action plan to drive down emissions from buildings, transport and waste management. The Compact for Mayors was launched in 2014 by the UN Secretary-General Ban ki-moon and his Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change, Michael R Bloomberg. The principles of the partnership are to standardise how greenhouse gas emissi