Kia ora Tracy,

 

Thank you for your email requesting information on decarbonising our
public transport fleet.

 

For context I’ve included the paragraph from your email, with responses to
your questions underneath.  

 

Many places in the Draft Long Term Plan ECAN have stated the need to
'decarbonise'. Concerning the buses, ECAN has written "reaching our goal
of a net-carbon zero fleet by 2035. We do this by investing in fleet
decarbonisation. The more of these vehicles on the road, the fewer carbon
emissions are released into the atmosphere". If ECAN is using ratepayers'
money responsibly, it would seem reasonable for ECAN to provide the cost
versus the return for such a goal.

 

For this reason, can ECAN please provide more information:

 1. From where the desire to reach this goal has come from?

 a. This target is related to the Ministry of Transport commitment to
decarbonising the public transport bus fleet. You can find more
information on this here: [1]Public transport decarbonisation |
Ministry of Transport

 

To provide some context, Environment Canterbury let service contracts to
private operators.  Environment Canterbury specify bus timetable
requirements and can also specify fleet requirements (bus size, fuel type
etc) within the parameters defined in the national Requirements for Urban
Buses (RUB) to which we must adhere.  As such, Environment Canterbury do
not have direct responsibility for any vehicle purchase, operation,
maintenance, decommissioning / on-sale etc.  These activities are
undertaken by private operators who are reimbursed via a contract price
defined as part of a tender process.  Our bus operating contracts
typically span periods of between 6 and 9 years (as per legislative
requirements at the time of letting) therefore the contract life is
typically shorter than the bus asset life.  Central Government policy for
providing of funding support for new PT vehicles requires all new buses
purchased from 1 July 2025 to be zero emission. 
[2]https://www.nzta.govt.nz/walking-cycling....

 

 2. ECAN has suggested that existing buses have reached the end of their
lifetime.  Could ECAN provide how many buses are reaching the end and
for what reasons?  As well -historically at what rate are ECAN buses
retired and for what reasons?

 a. Maximum vehicle ages and average fleet ages are specified in the
(RUB).  For our urban fleets, a maximum age limit of 20 years and
average age limit of 10 years applies.  School buses can be up to
23 years old.   As a result of these restrictions, we have a
rolling programme of fleet replacement whereby older vehicles are
retired from our fleet and new vehicles are purchased.   Within
our existing contracts, approximately 14 new vehicle replacements
are needed to maintain the average fleet age until we next go to
tender.  When new contracts are let, replacement requirements can
change significantly.  I.e. If an operator was to supply all-new
fleet for a new 9-year contract, we would not be required to
replace any fleet within the life of that contract.

 

 3. Could you please provide information on the total cost involved in
replacing existing buses with new 'zero-emissions' buses? This
includes the cost of decommissioning an existing bus as well as the
cost of commissioning a zero-emission bus.

 a. We do not have access to this information as we are not
responsible for bus purchase and decommissioning etc.  Buses are
typically used for a period of their operational life in our
contracts and are usually transferred to other uses once they are
no-longer contracted to us.  We pay a differential contract price
for zero emissions buses than for diesel buses, this price
differs with each individual operator, tendered rates are
confidential however we estimate an out-turn premium of around
$40-$70k per bus per annum in our current contracts.  

 

 4. Could you please provide information on the difference in ownership
costs between an existing bus and a 'zero-emission' bus, taking into
account factors such as maintenance, running costs, and other related
expenses?

 a. We do not have access to this information as we are not
responsible for bus purchase and decommissioning etc.  The
operating costs for battery electric vehicles are lower than that
for diesels, however the cost of the vehicle itself is currently
greater.  Anecdotal industry information suggests that we are now
close to parity in total cost of ownership for a zero-emissions
bus v a diesel bus.  Changes to the cost of electricity and
diesel over the lifetime of the asset will have a significant
impact on the total cost of ownership.

 

 5. Could you please provide information on the total CO2 emissions
associated with the life cycle of a zero-emission bus, from its
manufacturing to installation?

 a. We do not have information related to the manufacturing and
installation emissions for zero-emissions buses.  This will no
doubt differ depending on the bus type and manufacturing
location, operational use for the full asset life and residual
use of components (such as battery use for other applications
beyond the operational life of the bus).   As a benchmark, the
EECA reports an average 60% reduction in lifecycle emissions for
an EV v petrol car. 
[3]https://www.eeca.govt.nz/insights/eeca-i...

 

 6. What is the cost per tonne of CO2 that ratepayers will eventually pay
- from replacing existing buses with zero-emission buses - that is,
the amount of CO2 reduction versus the cost of implementation.

 a. The effective cost per tonne will change in accordance with
changing capital and operating costs of zero emission
vehicles. Fleet due for replacement is predominantly Euro 3 and
Euro 4 diesel.  These produce 68 – 63 tonnes of carbon emissions
per year, based on average kms of operation (75,000kms pa). Based
on our estimated premium of $40-$70k per bus, this would equate
to a cost of around $590 - $1110 per tonne of carbon reduction
under our current contracts. This does not include any of the
wider benefits of electric buses – such as the reductions in NO2
and PM10 and noise reductions.

 

Ngâ mihi,

Environment Canterbury

 

LGOIMA
[4]Environment Canterbury
Environment Canterbury
PO Box 345, Christchurch 8140
[5][ECAN request email] Customer Services: [6]0800 324 636
24 Hours: [7]0800 76 55 88
[8]ecan.govt.nz
[9]Facebook   [10]Twitter   [11]YouTube  
[12]Instagram

References

Visible links
1. https://www.transport.govt.nz/area-of-in...
2. https://www.nzta.govt.nz/walking-cycling...
3. https://www.eeca.govt.nz/insights/eeca-i...
4. https://www.ecan.govt.nz/?utm_source=ema...
5. mailto:[ECAN request email]
6. file:///tmp/tel:0800324636
7. file:///tmp/tel:0800765588
8. https://www.ecan.govt.nz/?utm_source=ema...
9. https://www.facebook.com/EnvironmentCant...
10. https://twitter.com/ECan
11. https://www.youtube.com/user/ECanGovt
12. https://www.instagram.com/environment_ca...