2016-10-17 General Committee Meeting Notes

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                                   17 OCTOBER 2016


Council has worked with each party to the project to mitigate and correctly allocate risks as much
as possible, however, given the nature of this innovative project there is the potential for
unforeseen risks to arise.
In order to minimise these risks, a number of hold points have been put in place in the lease
agreement as an opportunity to mitigate risks to Council including;

a.    Manufacturing, testing and certification of the charging infrastructure (carried out in China
      prior to approval to ship).
b.    Manufacturing, testing and certification of the buses (carried out in China prior to approval
      to ship).
c.    Delivery and testing of buses (including charging infrastructure).
The commencement of the construction of the Energex infrastructure is dependent on items a &
b above being satisfied.
Council’s insurers have confirmed that it is insured for the risks it is responsible for.

2. Public Perception:
It is anticipated that the Electric Bus Trial will be well received during the trial period, however,
upon completion of the trial there may be a public perception risk regarding the approximately
$300,000 spent on Energex infrastructure which may have no future purpose.
It is considered that this is the cost of being early adopters and using the latest fast charging
technology for the electric bus trial. The buses will charge in minutes as people get on and off the
bus. The improved infrastructure will however ensure that the 2 sites are future proofed and may
provide opportunities for electric vehicle charging facilities in the future.

3. Financial Risk:
The majority of the works have been tendered or estimated however Council is yet to detail
design and accurately estimate the costs for civil works associated with the enabling works for
the Energex infrastructure.
Confirmation of the Sunbus operating model is also yet to be received from TransLink.

4. Timing
On the assumption that Council signs and executes the lease agreement in the week
commencing 17 October 2016, the six-month trial is expected to commence on 2 June 2017.
This long lead time is due to the buses and chargers being specifically manufactured for this trial.
In each of the previous Council reports presented, the timing has always been qualified with the
words ‘With the aim of all outstanding items being resolved to Council’s satisfaction’.
As reported to Services & Organisation Committee Meeting on 10 May 2016: “The purpose of the
electric bus trial is to provide Council and TransLink with data to allow a comparison of the
various economic and community benefits electric buses may provide to that of the current diesel
buses on an existing public transport route.”
It would be advantageous, therefore, if the trial could include a Free Holiday Bus period. Inclusion
of the 2017/18 Christmas Free Holiday Bus period would require an adjustment of the lease start
date from the proposed 2 June 2017 to a new start date of 7 July 2017. This date would require
the approval of AHGI and its views will be provided at a meeting with Council staff on 13 October
2016. A verbal update on AHGI’s views will be provided to the General Meeting.
It is hoped that the trial will provide a successful outcome on all trial KPI’s and that TransLink will
either extend the trial period, or adopt electric buses in the future (and ideally on this route as the
infrastructure is in place) however TransLink have not committed to any future use of electric
buses.

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