On Saturday July 27, BusVic held their Transitioning to Zero Emission Buses Summit from 10am to 3pm in the Eureka Rooms at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC). 170 operators and suppliers attended the Summit, which was a strong turnout for a cold and wet Melbourne Saturday morning.
Professor Graham Currie from Monash University Public Transport Research Group opened the Summit and discussed the motivation, challenges, and context for the transition.
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Andy Korr from the Department of Transport and Planning provided delegates with an update on how the various trials of ZEBs are going and confirmed the Government will release its plan in the coming months.
Gareth Ridge from Zenobe provided delegates with insights into how Ventura’s Ivanhoe depot transitioned recently to become the State’s first 100 per cent ZEB depot.
Geoff Drucker from Countrywide Hydrogen provided delegates with the costs and benefits of operating hydrogen, and James Mitchell and Kienan Bray from ARCC gave a performance review of the several hydrogen buses that are currently being trialled across the Eastern Seaboard.
Rob Dunster representing KlineFire gave the most excellent presentation on risk mitigation strategies for fires on ZEBs.
Nick Curran from CMV / Volvo informed delegates of best practice maintenance practices for ZEBs, and Tim Gangell from Road Safety Inspections gave a short presentation on what inspection firms look for when inspecting ZEBs and how these inspections differ to diesel buses.
Finally, Kathy Lazanas from Urban Transit Solutions opened everyone’s eyes to the need for the entire network to be rescheduled due to the different time and distance costs between ZEBs and diesel vehicles.
The Minister for Public Transport, Gabby Williams, was unable to open the Summit as hoped, but John Pesutto, the Leader of the Opposition, gave a short right of reply speech to close the Summit. Overall, a most educational and eye opening five-hour Summit.
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