This project will perform continued exploration of methods and standards that allow power transfer between electrified and advance transit bus fleet and infrastructure during hazard and emergency…

The Federal Transit Administration awarded Inventev LLC a $720,000 cooperative agreement on July 22, 2026, under the Technical Assistance and Workforce Development program (CFDA 20.531) to develop methods and standards for power transfer between electrified transit buses and community infrastructure during emergencies.

The recipient will re-commission a power conversion inverter unit from the prior Bus Exportable Power Systems Standards Development award (MI-2022-058-00) and conduct live demonstrations of a transit bus supplying power to transit-oriented development (TOD) sites. Initial work targets building-side connections for 120/240-volt split single-phase power and, if practical, 208-volt three-phase power under 75 kilowatts. The project will demonstrate power delivery from a DC high-voltage-enabled transit bus up to 37.5 kilowatts to one or more TOD sites. The effort explores how electrified transit buses can supply backup power to medical clinics, community centers, schools, emergency shelters, and residential or office buildings within TOD areas during grid power failures.

The award period runs through March 31, 2029, with work performed in Michigan. The anticipated outcome is an advanced research capability at the intersection of grid resilience and transit-oriented development that enables electrified transit buses to serve as emergency backup power sources for critical operations and community sheltering, informing emergency management planning and DOT/FTA policy development.

Activities

As a follow-on activity from cooperative agreement bus exportable power systems standards development (MI-2022-058-00) this award RE-commissions the power conversion hardware unit (inverter between bus and islanded electrical load) for use in live demonstration of a bus powering an element of a transit-oriented development. Further building-side connection options are explored initially for 120/240V split single phase power and (if practical) for 208V 3-phase power under 75KW. As presently limited by the hardware executed a demonstration of power supplied from a DC high-voltage-enabled transit bus property up to 37.5KW to one or more TOD sites is proposed. Additional funding (potentially state-based) may advance the power conversion to a compact vehicle-mounted device to supplement the baseline activities.

Expected outcomes

An area of advanced research at the intersection of grid resilience and transit-oriented developments where DOT/FTA can advance an emergency backup power concept. The integration of electrified and advance transit and building assets can benefit communities and be part of emergency management planning. As initially explored in the beps award electrified transit buses present stored energy that the built environment can leverage in times of emergency response either for critical operations or sheltering community residents (including cooling and/or warming needs).

Intended beneficiaries

Transit-oriented development personal or commercial residents gain critical (sometimes life-saving) access to grid-quality power when otherwise disrupted by storms or other emergency situations.

Subrecipient activities

No subrecipients proposed. Specific contractors with specialized knowledge or facilities are planned to be retained including kettering university (flint MI) for the recommissioning of the power conditioning hardware unit; the engineering shop (SAN diego CA) for hardware and software expert assistance from the beps project; and underwriters laboratory (UL) and/or national fire protection association (NFPA) as device safety and national electrical code owners for additional technical assist.