Arriva Low Emission Vehicles

[R879 HRF]

RE: Arriva Low Emission Vehicles
In regards to electric buses and the advance in technology, don't forget the E1 SMARTeco in Birkenhead between 1998 and 2006 was a trial as part of the EUs JUPITER2 scheme, standing for Joint Urban Project In Transport Energy Reduction.

The scheme was rolled out in a number of cities across Europe, Florence in Italy was another city which ran the exact model Tecnobus as Birkenhead, only ran for much longer, and have only recently been replaced with newer model of Tecnobus. Its been more successful in Italy for a number of reasons - 1 Tecnobus are based there, it was difficult to get parts and support for them in this country. 2 There was more market for the types of routes - theyre used down the narrow old city streets which a full size bus cannot manage. Don't forget climate is a factor - First PMT had difficulties with batteries in the winter, they wernt as efficient in the cold temperatures so didn't last as long.

Originally it was intended to have a wireless charging point at Woodside Ferry so the buses could charge whilst laying over, but it never happened due to cost, and fear of vandalism. One of the failings of course with the E1 is that it was a free service. In Italy I believe you buy before you board, and the buses have a card/pass reader onboard. Merseytravel intended to start charging after the introductory period, but it never happened.

There is an online report concluding some of the findings of the SMARTeco scheme, including the E1, and it is an interesting read.

Click here for PDF report

It also includes an overview of SMARTeco CNG Dennis Darts in Southport (pages 21-24) and pages 25-29 for E1. A number of other UK trials are listed also. A very interesting read.
Now as has been mentioned with advances in technology an all electric service could probably work, especially as a number of manufacturers are working on such technology, and its not such a limited market.