Vehicles - Auckland Regional Council Passenger Transport Service
Summary
A suite of policies, contract statements and strategies guide the passenger transport services of the region, including the Auckland Regional Council Passenger Services Contracting Manual 1999, Auckland Regional Council Vehicle Quality Standards Manual 2001 and Regional Passenger Transport Plan 2003.
These documents provide specific standards that must be met in purchasing passenger transport fleet vehicles as well as provide guidance on the evaluation criteria for tender processes.
Key drivers
The environmental impact of fuel use is recognised by Auckland Regional Council as a key environmental issue within the mandate of council to address.
Project detail
The Auckland Regional Council Vehicle Quality Standards Manual 2001 states that:
"Vehicles First Registered on or after 1 January 2004
Tenderers should note that any new, imported or re-manufactured LPSV or SPSV vehicle first registered in New Zealand on or after 1 January 2004 that is to be used on any Urban Passenger Service contract or any registered Urban Passenger Service for which an operator wishes to be eligible for recompense under the Concessionary Fare Scheme shall be fitted with an engine which complies with Euro 2 or US EPA 98 emission standards or an approved equivalent."
The more recent Regional Passenger Transport Plan 2003 has identified the need for more stringent standards on particular transit ways. As such, draft service specifications for services currently out for consultation prior to preparation of Requests for Tender requires all vehicles proposed for commercial and contracted services to be a minimum Euro 3 or equivalent standard.
The Auckland Regional Council Passenger Services Contracting Manual 1999 identified an optional evaluation factor to be included in tenders as:
"Low Polluting Vehicles
Where more than 70% of the vehicles in the fleet are powered by CNG, LPG, or electricity - the ranking price will be reduced by:
- X per vehicle per day plus
- X per 100 kms per day.
Where all of the vehicles used on a contract are powered by CNG, LPG, or electricity - the ranking price will be reduced [further] by:
- X per vehicle per day plus
- X per 100 kms per day"
This indicates that the Auckland Regional Council is prepared to pay a price premium for low pollution vehicles.
No operators have submitted tenders that claim these points. Diesel appears to be the preferred fuel and the value of the points has not resulted in suppliers seeing value in installing new fuel systems and associated storage and maintenance systems.
However, the introduction in 2003 of the requirements that new vehicles to be used on contracted services must have Euro 3 or equivalent engines has to some extent reduced the need for the low polluting vehicle evaluation factor.
Key challenges
The operational evaluation credits to encourage low polluting vehicles have not prompted a move away from diesel. Hybrid electric buses are approximately three times the cost of diesel buses and as such, even with the evaluation criteria in place, the diesel buses are by far the most economic option. With diesel quality improvements and more efficient engine design the urban bus fleet will continue to improve but a move away diesel seems unlikely. The challenge is to encourage operators to observe best practice maintenance regimes and driving practices.
Outcomes of project
A contract commenced in September 2002 for free City Circuit services. This was operated initially by diesel buses using specially imported low sulphur diesel (350ppm). Three hybrid electric buses have now replaced the diesel buses.
