York’s new green fleet plan

 

City of York Council is set to transform it’s fleet of vehicles and become a leader in the fight to reduce the city’s carbon emissions with an ambition to be carbon neutral by 2030.

The council will be taking a report outlining the full details to an Executive meeting on 19 March.

This includes reducing the carbon emissions from the council’s fleet (of 535 vehicles under 3.5 tonnes) by a third.

The fleet is valued at £15.3 million and includes 180 vehicles that are under 3.5 tonnes and 153 which are currently due to be replaced over the next three years. Together they emit a total of 1,763 tonnes of CO2 every year.

Under the new proposals, the council would like to transition to a green /electric fleet over a four year phased period.

This will include:

Year one: securing the infrastructure to enable an electric fleet to operate at council sites. Ordering three electric waste vehicles.

Year two: services that are ready for an electric fleet now can make the change as the infrastructure will now be in place.For those services that require some changes to the way they operate, a third of the vehicles will move to electric.

Years three and four.Those services that need a phased approach will be progressed to a 100% electric as quickly as possible.

The financial implications of moving towards an electric fleet would vary depending on the size and type of vehicle and would need to factor in the infrastructure costs to support the green fleet too at council sites.

In order to achieve this, a fleet replacement programme is proposed which will be considered on an annual basis as part of the annual capital programme. However, as option three is the preferred option – this is estimated to cost in the region of £2.22 million.

The council has already implemented a number of measures to address these challenges including introducing a clean air zone for buses and the transition of the Park & Ride fleet of buses to electric double decker buses will be completed this year.

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Electric vehicle charging strategy for York revealed

 

City of York Council is set to introduce a new electric vehicle (EV) charging strategy which will transform and accelerate EV take up across the city.

A report detailing the proposal will be taken to a public Executive meeting on 19 March for approval.

This follows the authority declaring a climate change emergency in 2019 and approving plans to work towards becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

If approved, the council will introduce Fast EV chargepoints to at least a minimum of five per cent of all its long stay parking bays in council owned car parks by 2023.

This will cost circa £800,000 and will be subject to successful external funding bids and reviewed as part of the development of the Local Transport Plan later this year.

To complement the enhanced fast charger network the council is also developing two Hyper Hub sites which will provide state of the art rapid and ultra-rapid facilities. Subject to securing further external funding, a third site is also being developed.

A part of the proposals will be to ensure it offers an equal opportunity for all users (with on street and off street parking) and to ensure that tariffs are set at a fair rate.

The current tariff of 15 p/kWh, hasn’t been revised since it was set in 2013, so a key element of the strategy is to review the tariff price point.

The council’s proposed tariff approach will take into account increases in electricity and running costs to ensure that the network is financially sustainable. During 2020/2021 it is proposed to increase the tariff to 20 p/kWh for fast chargers and 25 p/kWh for rapid and ultra-rapid chargers. All new rapid and ultra-rapid units will allow bank card payments for the same 25 p/kWh fee.

Regular users will have the option of signing up to a subscription Network where they will pay a monthly fee in return for lower usage tariffs.

Tariffs will be reviewed every year and electricity supplying the chargepoints will be part of the council’s energy contract which purchases renewable energy.

New conditions will also be introduced to ensure that users of EV bays are using them principally to charge their vehicles. Enforcement action could be taken where a vehicle is using a bay and is not plugged into the charging point. Time limits could also be imposed.

Frequently Asked Questions:

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Bleak outlook on Ascot Way

Contractions working on the new Centre of Excellence for Disabled Children on Ascot Way have demolished the local residents noticeboard. It has been left lying on the grass verge. No prior warning of the removal was given.

There are places where the noticeboard could be reinstated with a few minutes work.

The access arrangements for the site are also proving problematic A one way system for heavy plant was supposed to be in operation but this wasn’t working well today. Buses struggled to get by

One piece of good news is that the temporary bus stop is now accessible again