Cambridgeshire County Council Early Adoption of Low Emission Buses

Greater Cambridge Partnership has been exploring the early introduction a number of Low Emission Buses (LEB) operating in Cambridge to support an improvement in air quality in the city area. The proposal is to invest in the introduction of 2 buses (one full electric and one diesel hybrid-electric) and a charging station. The hybrid vehicle will be used to test geofencing technology and to allow comparison with full electric and hybrid vehicle operations to inform and influence future investment in a low emission bus fleet. Description of the project: — to confirm the technical and commercial viability for the use of electric buses in Cambridge, — to measure improvements (on a small scale) to local air quality and support understanding of the air quality benefits with the use of e-vehicles, — to understand the risks and benefits in the use of e-vehicle technology within Cambridge, — to gather information on the management and use of electric and hybrid buses within Cambridge, — to provide public and operator confidence in the ability for electric bus technology to be rolled out in Cambridge, — to influence private sector investment in low emission bus technology, — the project will work with stagecoach as a direct award, market testing and further notifications failed to achieve any market interest in supporting the project other than the local operator chosen, — the marketplace has been tested through a soft marketing exercise in late 2018 where interested parties where asked to consider working with GCP to invest in operating low emission buses on routes serving Cambridge city centre. Only one operator response was received from stagecoach, — the market has been further tested early in early 2019 through publication of an intention to issue a VEAT notice to facilitate work with the local operator on the contracts finder website, giving a further opportunity for operators to show interest. No response to the notice was received, — the proposal is to invest in the introduction of a minimum of 2 buses (one full electric and one diesel hybrid-electric) and a charging station. The hybrid vehicle will be used to test Geofencing technology and to allow comparison with full electric and hybrid vehicle operations to inform and influence future investment in a low emission bus fleet, — the buses will operate for a period of time to be agreed with the operator with an expectation of at least 3 years, following which the investment will be reviewed with the operator against 2 options: the first would retain the buses for use in the Cambridge area to continue to support air quality improvements, the second to sell the buses and recover a proportion of the GCP investment on a percentage basis, based upon sale price, — routing for trial should be on a single route that can accessed by as many passengers as possible. This will provide an understanding of the complexity of using electric buses throughout Cambridge without the risk of a full electric bus roll out.