1 Republic of Kazakhstan Almaty Trolleybus Project
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OFFICIAL USE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN ALMATY TROLLEYBUS PROJECT FEASIBILITY AND DUE DILIGENCE STUDY TERMS OF REFERENCE 1. BACKGROUND The City of Almaty (the “City”) with population of 1.8 million is the country’s largest and most important business and financial centre, contributing around 25 per cent of the national GDP. As most of rapidly growing conglomerates, the city is experiencing deficit of convenient “green” public transportation aggravated by an increasing number of private cars. Almaty is the only city in Kazakhstan with trolleybus system. Current trolleybus fleet was purchased 10 years ago, and it is close to its full depreciation. Subsequently, the City approached the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the “EBRD” or the “Bank”) to finance renewal of the trolleybus fleet through the purchase of 200 new hybrid trolleybuses and associated depot equipment (the “Project”). EBRD loan would be provided for the benefit of Almatyelectrotrans LLP (the “Company” or “AET”). The City sees the Project as an important measure to improve the environmental situation via expanding electric transport. The Project will allow the Company to improve passenger services by replacing the existing deteriorating fleet and providing vehicles for new lines, should the City decide to expand the trolleybus network. Better public transport services will prevent further modal shift from public transport to personal cars. The City’s public transport carries over 450 million passengers annually. The bulk of passenger traffic (86 per cent) is carried by buses operated by private and municipal companies. Trolleybuses account for 11 per cent of traffic, and the metro for 3 per cent. Since 2017, the Almaty City Akimat (the “Akimat”) has subsidised public transport operations based on the number of serviced passengers. This was a major step to support public transport that has allowed operators to improve their services and renew the bus fleet. The subsidies are provided exclusively to the operators with new buses for up to 10 years of operations. In mid- 2019, the Akimat has started to provide subsidies for trolleybus operation as well. Overall the City allocated KZT 23 billion (EUR 53 million) to support bus services in 2019. This practice is expected to continue in the future. The Company is fully owned by the City. It operates 709 buses and 160 trolleybuses carrying around 180 million passengers per year (40 per cent of the City’s passenger traffic). The Company operates 51 bus and 8 trolleybus lines, with a total route length of 2,890 and 240 km respectively. AET has 4 bus and 1 trolleybus depots and 16 operating sub-stations for trolleybuses with a total capacity of 55,600 kW. The total number of employees is circa 2,500. One fourth of trolleybus drivers are women. The Company’s fare revenue is mostly collected by the operator of the Onay e-ticketing system, which retains up to 10 per cent as a service fee. 1 OFFICIAL USE OFFICIAL USE The EBRD is currently overseeing implementation of a TC assignment to assist Almaty in developing a Green City Action Plan. The TC’s implementation should start in [month] 2020 and will last for 18 months. In order to prepare the project for financing, the EBRD wishes to appoint a consultant (the “Consultant”) to perform a feasibility study to determine the scope and viability of the Project, preliminary costs and provide recommendations on the technical specifications of the trolleybuses and the depot. 2. THE OBJECTIVE The Bank needs a comprehensive analysis of the proposed investments in Almaty. The specific objectives of the assignment are to: Task Series 1 – Feasibility Study and Due Diligence The specific objectives of this assignment are to: a) review existing studies and perform consultations with beneficiary and key stakeholders; b) perform demand study, network assessment and network development scenarios c) analyse trolleybus lines and operational trolleybus fleet requirements, including for scenarios; d) assess maintenance facilities (trolleybus depot and spare parts) and determine any upgrade requirements, including for scenarios; e) assess trolleybus infrastructure, power supply/substations, including for hybrid trolleybus systems (additional power off-take) and determine any upgrade requirements, including for scenarios; f) perform comparative assessment of trolleybus hybrid (battery) trolleybus and fully electric bus (as an option) for network extensions and/or optimisation, considering infrastructure costs, supply/maintenance issues and risks involved; g) prepare financial and economic cash flows and lifetime assessments of proposed investment; h) prepare project implementation and procurement plan, including possible phasing and/or scenarios; i) prepare detailed technical requirements for trolleybus fleet and depot, for open procurement of trolleybuses and depot works in line with the EBRD PP&Rs. Task Series 2 – Environmental and social assessment Environmental and social due diligence of the project for full project scope, including notably trolleybus fleet and depot, in accordance with the Banks Environmental and Social Policy and Performance Requirements. Task Series 3 – Recommendation of operational and regulatory support This task is to assess existing practices, resources and tools and recommend measures to ensure successful introduction of the new trolleybus fleet onto all company trolleybus lines, and the corresponding withdrawal of existing bus services. The specific objectives of this assignment are to: 2 OFFICIAL USE OFFICIAL USE a) review of City practices for reporting and licencing of bus operations, requirements and possible timeline for withdrawal of existing licences, as appropriate b) assessment of company management and accounting systems, recommendation of MIS system c) recommendation of focus actions for post-signing regulatory and operational support (notably, public service contract and corporate development plan). In the completion of these tasks, the Consultant will consult with all relevant studies and stakeholders. The Consultant will cooperate closely with all teams at the Bank, notably for technical, environmental, social and financial assessments, and provide any required technical inputs and advice for completion of their tasks. 3. SCOPE OF WORK Task Series 1 – Feasibility Study and Due Diligence 1.1 Analysis of urban transport system The Consultant will provide an overview of City’s public transport market. It will include but should not be limited to the following: Overview of public transport market in the City; Review and analyse the most recent sector strategy, route network of the City; Overview of regulatory framework and institutional set up, including proposal on the new tariff system based on E-ticketing; Review proposed E-ticketing solution and the investment contract with the operator. Main parameters of services, including number of routes for different modes; Number of passengers carried and their structure in terms of eligibility to social discounts; Number of operators and description of their fleets in terms of type, size and age, Annual turnover in the sector Suburban service scale. The Consultant will collect all potentially required data on urban transport system, including demand and supply levels of public transport service, public transport prioritisation, cost of services provided and their main driving factors, tariffs structure and passengers, fleet conditions, etc. The Consultant will review the current fare revenue collection and enforcement system on municipal and privately rendered services and any plans for expansion of the system. Notably, the Consultant shall consult the Almaty Sustainable Transport Strategy 2013-2023 and other outputs of the Sustainable Transport Project, concluded in 2017. 1.2 Network and demand assessment The Consultant will document, review and assess current trolleybus route network in terms of level of service supply, demand and competition with other modes. 3 OFFICIAL USE OFFICIAL USE Using outputs and files of the TranCAD demand model developed under the Sustainable Transport Project, the Consultant shall update the model with latest ridership data from the automated fare system, along with network, socio-economic and other data, to provide a reference baseline network and demand model for 2020. The Consultant shall complement available ridership data with sample occupancy and/or non-paying and concessionary passenger surveys as appropriate The Consultant shall consider proposed reorganisation of the route network, including notably simplification of bus network and improvement of main routes (metro, LRT, trolleybus and main bus routes) and two new interchange terminals and, in consultation with City and along with complementary modelling and network scenarios, will use this as a basis for proposed trolleybus network and related scenarios. The Consultant will carry out a thorough review of the existing public transport services along trolleybus routes, including modes, quantity of vehicles on each route, service frequency during peak and off-peak hours, and average capacity of vehicles on the route. The study of trolleybus routes should take into account the following factors: number of vehicles required for service and volume of annual vehicle kilometres required; distance from the existing depot; demand and required service levels (in terms of frequency); existing trolleybus infrastructure and its current condition, including old unused substations; condition of roads, trolleybus