1. Alternative Fuels for Local Bus Services
CIVITAS PLUS
Alternative Fuels for Local Bus Services
John Birtwistle, FirstGroup
Bath, 13 March 2012

2. The Bath Trial
To evaluate performance of a hybrid vehicle under controlled conditions
Wrightbus HEV diesel electric series hybrid, 82 passengers
Vauxhall 1.9litre diesel engine, Ballard hybrid power system
Used in service 31 August 2010 to 29 February 2012
Used on all three Park & Ride services
Direct comparison with Volvo B7TL Euro 3 diesel vehicles 2

3. The Bath Trial Experiment
Duration of trial 18 months, used of a combination of flat and hilly routes
First 12 months: Vehicle allocated to service as if it was any other
Final 6 months: Vehicle allocated to a specific Park & Ride route for at least one week at a time: has proved to be more difficult than expected
Unique feature: Zero emissions operation in central Bath
Data collected on reliability, costs, fuel consumption, emissions and noise data
Surveys of passengers and non users, drivers
Interviews with management, maintenance teams, client, city centre stakeholders
Evaluation jointly with University of the West of England (UWE), the site evaluation partner 3

4. Evaluation indicators
2B: Operating Costs – Cost per km (£ per km). Data supplied by First Bus. 
3A and 3B: Fuel Consumption – Fuel used (litres per 100km). Fuel records have been used to calculate for each vehicle employed on the Park & Ride services the fuel consumption in service.
8-11: CO2, CO, NOx, and particulate emissions – Emissions per vehicle km by type (Gram per km). Assessed from manufacturers data, and measured in-service with a portable engine exhaust analyser bought specifically for this measure.
12: Noise Perception – assessed through a passenger survey and in-service direct measurement of internal vehicle noise in db (A).
13: Awareness Level – assessed through passenger survey; additional data collected through driver survey and focus group, and stakeholder engagement with engineers, management, Council officers, local business stakeholders 4

5. Evaluation indicators
14: Acceptance Level – assessed through passenger survey; additional data collected through driver survey and focus group, and stakeholder engagement with engineers, management, Coucil officers, local business stakeholders
18: “Accuracy of Timekeeping” – Incidence of failure (mean time between failures); Availability for service – percentage of potential number of days that vehicle is available for service; service performance – driver perception of ability to maintain the service schedule.
19: Quality of Service – Perception of quality of service including comfort of the bus, quality of the bus journey, etc, assessed through passenger survey
28: Average Modal Split - Stated preference of modal shift based on attractiveness of new bus, assessed through passenger and car park user surveys. Since there is only one hybrid bus on trial, change in patronage is more likely to be as a result of other factors such as economic prosperity, weather, relativity of city centre parking and park & ride charges. 5

6. Passenger survey
Park & Ride service passengers interviewed 17th June – 5th July 2011
Quantitative face-to-face survey of users of hybrid and conventional diesel buses
In total 1,105 questionnaires were completed (550 on the diesel bus and 555 on the hybrid bus)
Data collectors appointed by UWE worked Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 17:30 (Bath Park & Ride services do not operate on Sundays)
All three Park & Ride services surveyed; random sample to obtain good mix of age sex and journey purpose
Required sample size 6

7. Non user survey
City centre car park users’ surveyed 9th-16th June 2011
Covered major car parks in Bath city centre.
856 completed face-to-face questionnaire surveys were achieved.
Data collectors appointed by UWE worked Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 17:30. The survey adopted a random sampling strategy.
Five major sites surveyed; random sample to obtain good mix of age sex and journey purpose
Required sample size 7

8. Stakeholder surveys
Driver questionnaire survey: all Park & Ride drivers; 75% completion rate
Focus groups:
Drivers (two senior drivers)
Management
Engineering staff
Maintenance contractor
Client for Park & Ride services (BaNES Council)
Chamber of Commerce
Business Improvement District Manager
BaNES Council Public Realm Department 8

9. Overall results When it works, it works well Some failures in service
Significant problems with battery “deep charge”
New engine required: design change for production vehicles
Parts availability reduced availability for service
Other lessons learned: driving technique; heating
Fuel economy 43% better than diesel equivalent (mpg)
In-service performance equivalent to diesel
Popular with most drivers and with passengers
Management engaged fully with project and made it a success
Stakeholders very keen on demonstration of new technology and addressing both environmental and sustainable transport issues 9

10. Provisional Results
2B: Operating Costs reduced by £0.04/km but subject to payment model/depreciation and availability issue
3: Fuel Consumption: 30% reduction in fuel used l/100km
8-11: CO2, CO, NOx, particulate emissions under analysis
12: Noise Perception lower than diesel; measured at approx half that of diesel when idling/accelerating
13: Awareness Level high with users, low with non users, high with stakeholders
14: Acceptance Level very high with all parties
18: Incidence of failure higher than diesel
Availability for service poor 47% compared with diesel 87%; parts availability issues due to prototype nature
Service performance good, no different to diesel
19: Quality of Service comfort and quality of journey comfort little difference, smoothness and environmental impact better than diesel
28: Average Modal Split - Stated preference of modal shift inconclusive 10

11. Dissemination Explanation of trial at Krakov CIVITAS conference 2009
Press coverage at launch, August 2010
Radio and TV news coverage of launch
Low key thereafter whilst the vehicle proved itself
Demonstration at other Bath project launches including public realm and freight terminal, 2011
2011 FirstGroup Bus Handbook
Progress report, Skopje CIVITAS
conference Sept 2011
Exhibition at Low Carbon
Conference, Bristol Oct 2011
Entry for various awards
Website coverage
Major publicity drive early 2012
Bath Chronicle 16 February 2012
Brussels conference 24 Feb 2012 11

12. Exploitation Diesel-electric hybrid is a success!
First already operates over 100 in London, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow
More than 500 now operating in UK
But the Bath trial bus remains unique with zero emissions operation
Demonstration that the technology has mainstream applications
Successful demonstration of reduced emissions and low carbon technology
Popular with passengers, non users, operators and other stakeholders
Case for incentivising public transport use not proven 12

13. Success against Measure Objectives
High level / longer term:
To reduce congestion and pollution in the city of Bath. Partial success (small scale demonstration)
Strategic level:
To explore the feasibility of ‘low emissions’ bus operation, within the environmentally sensitive World Heritage Site of Bath. Success 13

14. Success against Measure Objectives
Measure level:
To identify the feasibility of and barriers to operating a low-emission bus in a historic city. Success
To identify a suitable low-emission vehicle for use in Bath. Success
To demonstrate the feasibility of operating a low-emission bus in normal passenger service in Bath. Success
To explore public perceptions and acceptance of the low-emission vehicle in Bath. Success 14

15. What happens next? Cost-benefit analysis on results for Project
The vehicle returns to its manufacturer on 14 March 2012; it is already “out of date” technology
Zero emissions operation already under discussion for future vehicles, not a capability of current hybrid designs
BUT the need to adopt Euro VI rules this out in the short term....a diesel engine is most polluting at start-up, and cannot meet emissions targets; also the vehicle ancillaries are to be driven by engine rather than batteries
The business case for commercial investment in hybrid buses is very hard to make; UK Government funding available to bridge the capital cost gap, but fund is limited and is awarded through a competitive bidding competition
Hybrid technology works and has mainstream applications 15