The Cardiff Capital Region’s Transport Authority will be updated on progress concerning their electric vehicle and charging infrastructure plans this week (pdf).
In 2021, the City Region was awarded just over £4.8million from the Welsh Government towards electric vehicle projects.
Since then the funding has been used to:
- Provide 34 chargers for electric taxis (currently being installed at 31 sites) and the rollout of 159 sites for public electric vehicle charging (with 500 sites identified for later phases).
- A “try before you buy” scheme for electric taxis (run by Days Rental), with charging infrastructure and range being the emerging issues. This seems to be confined to Cardiff at the moment, with plans to expand it across the city region in the future.
- The early stages in the development of an electric vehicle car club to offer trial runs to the public.
One of the major items in the report is the initial findings of a study into the decarbonisation of school transport. Electric buses on scheduled/public services are already being rolled out or trialled.
While there’s a long way to go, the findings have uncovered serious issues that will need to be addressed, including:
- There’s no clear target or timescale set for the introduction of zero-emission contracted school vehicles. Ultimately, this is for the Welsh Government to decide.
- The economic case for zero-emission school transport is poor because the journeys often cover so few miles – though there would be few operational problems. Used zero-emission buses are unlikely to come onto the market until the 2030s.
- Many contract bus companies are small and transitioning to zero emissions could put some of them at risk. SMEs would need proper financial support to make the switch.
- The most economical solution may be converting existing buses from diesel to electric – though this may be more difficult/undesirable for buses older than 8 years. A snapshot of school/contract buses in one unnamed city region authority revealed that 90% of buses were more than 8 years old.
- The possibility is raised for school transport being procured across the city region as a whole. School transport is already a thorny topic in Bridgend and likely to be an election issue in the run-up to May.
- Phase-out or limit contracted bus services for school journeys by investing more in scheduled/public bus services (see more at State of Wales – How Wales Works: Bus Services – Funding & Future).
