Background and Challenge
Zemo Partnership is working to support and engage with our members to accelerate midi and minibuses to ultra low and zero emissions.
The role of smaller buses is attracting increased attention from the bus market and government in their respective decarbonisation plans. Smaller buses are being favoured in rural route services where narrow roads and lower passenger numbers suit more nimble model designs.
Government has also shown interest in the role smaller buses play in innovative new demand-driven services, known as ‘Demand Responsive Travel’ (DRT). These services have no defined route, but rather respond to customer demand using mobile applications to set pick-up and drop-off points. They are designed to feed into traditional fixed bus networks out of defined transport hubs like train stations.
Objectives
- To work with our members to define a zero emission minibus through the extension of the Zero Emission Bus definition being developed for larger buses.
- To evidence the case for capital grant support for small buses to DfT and Zemo members.
Actions and Outputs
- Zero Emission Minibus definition.
- Barriers and opportunities to uptake of zero emission minibuses paper.
Timeline
June 2021 – March 2022