Electric school buses for metro & regional WA: Enabling the shift

The Western Australia (WA) State Government’s Climate Policy (2020) sets out the strategic objectives for WA to reach net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 and recognises the importance of significant action in the decade to 2030 to reduce emissions. As well, State Government agencies need to develop strategies to reduce GHG emissions by 80% on 2020 levels by 2030. The transport sector generates nearly 15 million tonnes per annum of GHG emissions, and this has increased by 45% since 2005.

The Western Australia (WA) State Government’s Climate Policy (2020) sets out the strategic objectives for WA to reach net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 and recognises the importance of significant action in the decade to 2030 to reduce emissions. As well, State Government agencies need to develop strategies to reduce GHG emissions by 80% on 2020 levels by 2030. The transport sector generates nearly 15 million tonnes per annum of GHG emissions, and this has increased by 45% since 2005.

The Department of Transport (DoT) is working across the Transport Portfolio and more widely across WA departments, to drive the transition of government-owned vehicles, including school buses, to electric, as one of the ways to reach emission targets.

School bus services funded by the State Government require extensive fleets of buses, typically involving a 15 —20-year fleet replacement cycle. A strategy to transition these bus services to zero emissions vehicles is needed to support decisions that will enable the transition to commence by the mid to late 2020s.

This project is an extension of a major project undertaken on the feasibility of using battery-electric buses for regional school bus services (IiMOVE project 6-019, Electric school buses for Western Australia: Feasibility study) managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA). Building on the key findings of that research study, in this project the research will be extended to adopt a similar approach for Department of Education (DoE) school buses.

Additionally, the study will examine the scaling effect of the potential sharing of the same electric vehicle (EV) charging stations by multiple buses, while the power connection at each school is limited. Further, the potential for the dual use of e-bus charging infrastructure for other users and for bi-directional e-bus charging to assist in power outages at schools, will be assessed.

Participants

• Department of Transport (WA)
• University of Western Australia / PATREC

Project background

The State Government’s Climate Policy (2020) sets out the strategic objectives for Western Australia to reach net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 and recognises the importance of significant action in the decade to 2030 to reduce emissions.

As well, State Government agencies need to develop strategies to reduce GHG emissions by 80% on 2020 levels by 2030. The transport sector generates nearly 15 million tonnes per annum of GHG emissions, and this has increased by 45% since 2005.

The school bus services funded by the State Government comprises an extensive fleet of buses with a typical 15—20-year replacement cycle. A strategy to transition these bus services to zero emission vehicles is needed to support decisions to commence replacements by the mid—late 2020s. The Department of Transport (DoT) is working across the Transport Portfolio and more widely across WA State Government agencies to drive the transition of government-owned vehicles, including school buses, to electric, as one of the ways to reach emission targets.

This project is an extension of a previous iMOVE project, undertaken for the DoT as an investigation to assess the feasibility of replacing diesel-powered school buses with battery-electric buses for PTA regional school bus services in WA. In that project it was demonstrated that the introduction of electric school buses and corresponding charging stations is technically feasible and practical for all case studies investigated.

The present study will incorporate and build upon the learnings from the predecessor study, by applying the methodology to Department of Education (DoE) school buses which have different range requirements and different usage patterns. The study will also consider the scaling effect of the potential need for sharing the same EV charging stations, while the power connection at each school is limited.

Additionally, the opportunity for the dual use of e-bus charging infrastructure for other users and the potential for bi-directional e-bus charging to assist in power outages at schools, will be assessed. In this project, DoE school buses means the 303 buses which are either school-owned or owned by the DoE and leased to schools.

Project objectives

The objectives of this research project are to:

• assess the feasibility of introducing battery-electric buses into the DoE fleet in metropolitan and regional areas; where needed, propose solutions to electricity network capacity constraints; and identify the technical support services required for zero emissions buses and related infrastructure;
• determine the implications of adding more electric buses at individual school sites as more buses potentially have to share the same EV charging stations, while the power connection at each school is limited;
• validate the dual use opportunity of e-bus charging infrastructure as EV charging stations for other users to promote EV uptake as well as generating additional income for schools; and
• assess the potential for bi-directional e-bus charging to assist in power outages at schools.

Please note …

This page will be a living record of this project. As it matures, hits milestones, etc., we’ll continue to add information, links, images, interviews and more. Watch this space!