2015-04-07 General Committee Agenda

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                    7 APRIL 2015


1.   Key Tasks

The key tasks associated with the project were:
 Determining the preferred operating environment and bus route for an electric bus service
   within Noosa;
 Undertaking a market sounding exercise to understand the Australian and international
   electric bus market including interviewing electric bus manufacturers to develop comparative
   product (fleet) profiles;
 Interviewing clients (bus operators and transit agencies) globally who are currently operating
   electric buses to understand the costs and benefits, risks, opportunities, issues and lessons
   learned from operating electric buses;
 Undertaking a literature review of legislation, policy, standards, regulations and contracts to
   understand the parameters in which such a service may be deployed in Australia and more
   particularly in Queensland;
 Determining the most appropriate solution for a Noosa trial based on fleet size and
   recharging options (i.e. back to base or in-operation fast or inductive charging);
 Developing an assessment criteria framework to guide decision making on fleet procurement
   options;
 Developing a SOC identifying the indicative costs of establishment and operations of a
   recommended option to proceeds to a live trial, together with potential funding sources; and
 Recommendation of one or more potential electric buses that should be part of a live trial.


2.   Preferred Route

Following an assessment of all routes in the Noosa area, route 627 Tewantin – Sunshine Beach
was determined to be the preferred option as it:
 is easy to implement with no changes to timetables or public information;
 provides a variety of catchment areas and topography to test operational effectiveness;
 allows 2-3 buses to cover the route with a 30 minute frequency on a 60 minute circuit time;
 is not linked with other routes; and
 services highly frequented tourism areas between Tewantin and Noosa Junction.


3.   Market Research

The market research undertaken provided a historical context regarding the current number of
electric bus operations around the globe. The main historical barriers identified were:
 ‘range anxiety’ – today’s batteries last 150 to 200km between charges;
 battery cost – issues around new technology and the lack of scale for manufacturers; and
 network solution – the charging infrastructure required to support electric buses.
However, new battery technology, an increasing global interest in electric vehicles and the
evolution of charging infrastructure of buses showed that times are changing making such
methods of transport more affordable and viable. Industry predictions are that such barriers will
continue to reduce making battery technology better and cheaper.



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