2015-04-07 Item 2 - Attachment 1 - Pre feasibility Study of Electric Bus Routes

minimise the dead running and the significant cost of additional driver relief trips (compared
to the Noosa Council depot at Bartlett Road). In addition, repairs and maintenance of the
electric bus could be done at Marcoola similar to current diesel buses.

6.2      Expression of Interest (EOI) for the electric bus trial
Council/TransLink decided that the top two (2) manufacturers (i.e. Optare and BYD) would
be invited through an expression of interest (EOI) to participate in a 6 month trial. The
purpose of the EOI was to obtain more detailed information from the two manufacturers to
understand the cost incurred with a 6 month trial (Appendix E).
For the trial, two (2) electric buses, a fill-in diesel bus (to be injected into the service when
one of the electric buses is charging at Pelican Street) and a standby diesel bus (should the
electric bus breakdown) has been assumed.
The following elements have been included in developing the cost comparison to run the trial
for 6-months with the electric buses:
   Cost of leasing the electric bus and diesel bus
   Cost of the plug-in charging infrastructure including installation costs
   Cost of installation of the CUBIC ticketing and GPS equipment on the electric bus

   Vehicle registration and insurance costs
   Cost of training drivers and mechanics
   Bus driver costs

   Driver relief cost for the electric bus (e.g. hire car, wages and fuel). Relief trips will be
   required from Marcoola to Noosa junction to allow for driver meal breaks (every 4 hours)
   Electricity and fuel costs

   Cost of general repairs & maintenance (i.e. wages for mechanics)
   Marketing and communication costs
   Schedule of electric bus deployment on Route 627 as shown in Figure 14 and Figure 15
   for Optare and BYD, respectively
Table 8 summarises the estimated cost to run the trial for the Optare and BYD electric
buses. It is estimated that the cost to conduct the 6-month trial with Optare is $838,100 and
$792,600 with BYD (excluding contingencies). BYD is cheaper mainly due to the lower lease
cost and charging infrastructure which has been heavily discounted for the trial. However,
drivers and mechanics require significant more training (and cost) with the BYD bus. The
cost to run the existing two (2) diesel buses were provided by TransLink and is estimated to
cost approximately $385,400 for 6 months. Therefore, the “actual” cost to run the trial is
estimated to be $452,700 for Optare and $407,200 for BYD. This is the net cost after the
cost of operating the standard two (2) diesel buses on Route 627 is considered.
It should be noted that the cost estimates provided herein are high level (indicative) and may
vary when compared to the actual cost to run the electric and diesel buses. Contingencies
should be allowed to cover unforseen costs




44 | GHD | Proposal for Noosa Council & TransLink Division - Planning Report