Ten Counties Collaborate to Sustain IH-35 Corridor Developement

Greater San Marcos is the leading region connecting two rapidly growing innovation hubs in the United States: Austin and San Antonio. As a testament to the forward focused region, the Greater San Marcos Partnership (GSMP), in cooperation with the Central Texas Fuel Independence Project (CTFIP), Alamo Area Clean Cities, and CNG 4 America, announced a cutting-edge regional partnership between organizations that make up the Austin-San Antonio Interstate Highway 35 (IH-35) Corridor. Beginning in September, CTFIP, The University of Texas at Austin Center for Electromechanics and the Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute at The University of Texas at San Antonio will collaborate with large regional fleets to conduct third-party fleet analyses with fleet managers trying to make informed decisions about evaluating, then piloting advanced vehicle technology under virtual, then real conditions.

“By working hand-in-hand with San Antonio Water System, Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority in Austin, Austin Resource Recovery, and more, we will develop the backbone of a data analytics tool that can serve virtually every local fleet in the ten-county region that makes up the Austin and San Antonio MSAs,” said Andrew Johnston on behalf of the Central Texas Fuel Independence Project, a Department of Energy grant-funded initiative based at Austin Energy. The fleet analysis tool is designed to help fleet managers determine the break-even point for switching over to alternative vehicles, including information specific to each fleet.  By bringing together energy and transportation sectors with academia and government, CTFIP serves as a model of innovation and collaboration for how U.S. communities can effectively navigate the transition to electric and natural gas vehicles.

Greater San Marcos Partnership President Adriana Cruz sees the collaboration as positive movement towards solid and unified economic progress saying, “Alternative fuel source promotion is just another way to demonstrate the future of economic prosperity in Hays and Caldwell Counties, and in a bigger picture, all ten counties that make up the Austin and San Antonio MSAs. It is creative and resourceful ideas that ignite a community’s economic engine and will only encourage responsible and smart growth for Greater San Marcos.”

The announcement was made at the inaugural “Fleet Exchange: Dialogue on Natural Gas in Central Texas Fleets,” on August 26 at the Embassy Suites San Marcos. The event featured a robust agenda of state, business and civic leaders discussing Natural Gas in Fleets – an opportunity to move toward energy-efficient and cost-effective fleets, a workforce trained on advanced technologies and cleaner air for our 10 county region surrounding Austin and San Antonio. Speakers included: Commissioner David Porter (Railroad Commission of Texas); Texas State Representative Jason Isaac (Member, House Environmental Regulation Committee); Michael Lewis (Senior Engineering Scientist, The University of Texas at Austin); Abdul Patel (President, Sunrise Mini Mart); Andrew Johnston (CTFIP); Yliana Flores (Clean Cities Director, Alamo Area Council of Governments); Bob Baldwin (President, CNG 4 America); Chip Haass (Consultant, “Natural Gas Infrastructure in Texas”); David Brown (Community Clinical Research); Dennis Foose (Nat-G, “Facility Maintenance Infrastructure”); Ted Skierski (National Accounts Manager, TruStar Energy) and; William O’Connor (Director of Alternative Fuels Fleet, Texas Department of Transportation).

“Our goal with the Fleet Exchange event was to spark a conversation on creating cleaner, more energy-efficient cities, specifically the area the connects San Antonio to Austin,” said Yliana Flores, Clean Cities Coordinator, Alamo Area Council of Governments. “As the ten counties align their clean-technology missions and more communities become educated on Natural Gas Fleets, we will see the economic and environmental benefits overflow.”

Johnston added, “This is an encouraging sign of things to come – and the beginning of a very credible and strategic collaboration that will continue to enable the IH-35 corridor to grow together by advancing regional innovative solutions.”

The Greater San Marcos region is actively embracing the transition to alternatively fueled vehicles. For example, CNG 4 America, Inc. announced last May that it would establish a fast fill CNG fueling service on IH-35 in San Marcos, Texas, located at the San Marcos Truck Stop, 209 N Interstate Highway 35. The station features four new lanes to fuel on two dual sided CNG fast fill dispensers. This CNG facility is approximately half way between San Antonio and Austin and within one mile of the emerging research institution Texas State University, the fifth-largest public university in the state of Texas with an enrollment of over 35,000 students. Additionally, last year Tesla Motors Company, which designs and builds electric cars, opened their first “supercharger” station in Texas near San Marcos’ Premium Outlets.

“The Greater San Marcos region has a lot to offer and selecting San Marcos for our next fast fill station was an obvious choice,” said Bob Baldwin, President of CNG 4 America. “It is not only the fastest growing city in the U.S. and happens to be almost exactly between Austin and San Antonio, but the Greater San Marcos region provides easy access to eastern and western towns via the SH I-30 toll road as well. We look forward to supporting the strategic and sustainable development of the corridor that connects Austin and San Antonio.”

As part of this initiative, Commissioner Porter is coordinating the Texas Natural Gas Summit that will be held in Austin on October 23, 2014. The Summit, intended to help fleet managers and operators transition to natural gas fuel, is a natural gas vehicle expo, fleet and E&P workshop and job fair combined in the heart of the booming IH-35 corridor.

“My Natural Gas Vehicle Initiative, launched last October, aims to grow the Texas economy by encouraging increased use of natural gas fuel in vehicles and E&P activities,” said Commissioner David Porter. “The results of the initiative have been notable and are greatly advanced by public-private initiatives like the Clean Texas Fuel Independence Project and the new San Marcos Truck Stop.”

Pike Powers, known as the godfather of technology economic development in Austin, has served as the senior advisor to GSMP since May 2012. About the future of Greater San Marcos, Powers remarked:

“I have had the pleasure of being a part of the smart growth and development of what has now become the Austin revolution. All of the elements for successful economic strengthening are present and have poised the Greater San Marcos region to be a place of opportunity. That being said, it is through a united community effort that those elements for success are utilized to bring a region of age. I now urge the regions that surround Hays and Caldwell Counties to actively work together to form a cohesive and unstoppable economic generator.”

The Fleet Exchange event was made possible through the united support of US Department of Energy, the Greater San Marcos Partnership, Austin Energy, Alamo Area Clean Cities Coalition, Caldwell County, UT Center for Electromechanics, UTSA Texas Sustainable Energy Research Institute, City of Austin Fleets, Texas Department of Transportation, CenterPoint Energy, CNG 4 America, CPS Energy, Lone Star Clean Fuels Alliance, Nat-G, the Railroad Commission of Texas, Texas Gas Service (a division of ONE Gas), and TruStar Energy.