City of Austin – Nia Nickens – 2025
Summary
Nia Nickens worked with Austin Resource Recovery (ARR), Austin Fleet Services, and Austin Climate Action & Resilience to support the City of Austin’s 2040 zero-waste goals and its community-wide initiative to electrify fleets. ARR’s fleet contributes approximately 25% of the City of Austin’s operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with the refuse fleet representing the largest portion of that contribution. Nia’s project focused on developing a phased plan to transition 189 heavy-duty refuse trucks from diesel to battery electric vehicles (BEVs), while analyzing infrastructure needs, costs, and operational feasibility.
Goals
In 2023, ARR adopted a Comprehensive Plan committed to achieving zero waste by 2040. A major challenge in this effort is the reliance on heavy-duty diesel refuse trucks, which operate daily across the city and contribute significantly to the City of Austin’s 44,000 metric ton carbon footprint. To address this, ARR partnered with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) through the Climate Corps Fellowship to develop a fleet electrification plan. The project aimed to map out a phased transition to electric refuse trucks, including procurement timelines, charging infrastructure needs, cost analysis, and operational feasibility.
Solutions
Nia began by evaluating electric alternatives that could meet ARR’s daily operational needs, comparing performance, size, and duty cycles against the existing diesel fleet to ensure feasibility. She then developed a phased replacement plan for 189 vehicles to align procurement with vehicle age and Austin’s climate goals. To address the critical need for charging infrastructure, Nia modeled the number, type, and location of fast chargers while considering route lengths, depot constraints, and analyzing the percentage of routes that could be affected or unaffected by electrification across a variety of range thresholds. Finally, she conducted a financial analysis to balance the total cost of ownership, operations and maintenance, and infrastructure costs with long-term savings, emissions reductions, and public health benefits.
Potential Impact
As a result, this electrification plan could transition 189 of Austin Resource Recovery’s most fuel-intensive refuse trucks to battery electric models that directly reduce the city’s fleet emissions by nearly 11,000 metric tons. The shift is projected to lower long-term fuel and maintenance costs, potentially saving the city millions of dollars over the next 15 years. Beyond financial savings, the plan would improve local air quality, reduce noise pollution, enhance working conditions for drivers, and advance Austin toward its 2040 zero-waste and climate goals. Additionally, her research introduced new frameworks for ARR to apply in its future planning efforts.
