In this week's episode, Alex shines a light on the journey toward electrifying rural buses—an issue at the heart of the eMobility agenda. Buses are essential to reducing car dependency, cutting emissions, and improving road congestion. Yet operating rural bus services without subsidy is notoriously difficult. Can rural operators—big or small—introduce e-buses? If so, how and when?
During the show Alex discusses
1. How the provision and use of buses across all parts of the UK has changed over the years
2. Government policies and funding schemes across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that are supporting Local Authorities and Commercial Bus Operators to make the shift to battery electric or hydrogen fuel cell buses.
3. The somewhat heated discussions around the role of Hydrogen Fuel Cell buses in fleet decarbonisation roadmaps
4. The main challenges associated with introducing electric buses onto rural routes 5. The short and longer term solutions and policy interventions needed to prevent a two-tier transport system where cities have shiny electric buses, and villages left with clattering old diesels or no buses at all.
References 1. Confederation of Passenger Transport: Delivering Zero Emission Bus Services to Rural Areas - https://www.cpt-uk.org/media/x0nnhkbn/rural-zero-emission-bus-taskforce-report-final.pdf
2. The Potential for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Buses in Europe: Results from the bulk analysis of passenger schedules - https://www.fuelcellbuses.eu/sites/default/files/documents/D3.36_Potential%20for%20hydrogen%20buses%20in%20europe.pdf
3. Department for Transport Annual bus statistics: year ending March 2024 - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-bus-statistics-year-ending-march-2024/annual-bus-statistics-year-ending-march-2024#bus-fleet
Connect with Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexcreid/
Follow Alex & Rural Charge on Substack: https://ruralemobility.substack.com/
Work with Alex: ecotechevolution.com
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