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Zero Emission Bus Regional Area Scheme Application Form

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Zero Emission Bus Regional Area Scheme Application Form MAY 2021 WARRINGTON ZERO EMISSION BUS REGIONAL AREA SCHEME APPLICATION FORM Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas Scheme – 2021 to 2022 Application Form Call for Expressions of Interest Applicant Information Local transport authority: Warrington Borough Council (For joint bids only) Which local transport authority is the lead bidder: N/A Area within authority covered by bid: Warrington Borough Bid Manager Name and position: Contact telephone number: Email address: Postal address: Warrington Borough Council, Town Hall, Sankey Street, Warrington, WA1 1UH Submission of proposals: Applications to the Scheme will be assessed against the criteria set out here and in the guidance document. Please adhere to word limits. We will not accept any additional information unless specifically requested. Proposals must be received no later than 17:00 on the following days. Fast track process - 5pm on 21st May 2021 Standard process – 5pm on 25th June 2021. You will receive confirmation that we have received your proposal within 1 working day. An electronic copy only of the bid including any supporting material should be submitted to [email protected]. Please include “ZEBRA (Fast track Process) Local Transport Authority name” in the subject line of the email if you are applying under the fast track process. Please include “ZEBRA (Standard Process) Local Transport Authority name” in the subject line of the email if you are applying under the standard process. Enquiries about the Fund may be directed to [email protected]. Transparency and privacy Please refer to the guidance for this scheme before completing the application form to understand how DfT will manage your data. SECTION A: Mandatory Questions Areas must satisfactorily answer all of the questions in this section to be eligible to progress to Phase 2 of the scheme. If you would like further information, please contact the Department for Transport at [email protected]. Areas must provide the information requested in questions A1-A5. A1. In total, how many new zero emission buses will your proposal deliver? 120 buses. Our financial model assumes a 30 year programme in total, with 120 buses delivered in Year 1 through ZEBRA funding. We have assumed that a further 120 buses will be needed by Year 15 replacing the first round of electric buses at the end of their operational lifespan. Therefore, in total this proposal will see 240 buses delivered. A2. Total DfT funding sought (£m) The funding that we are seeking is made up of: Funding for Buses = £18,510,000 Funding for Infrastructure = £4,140,000 Total funding sought = £22,650,000 A3. Third party funding contributions (£m) This proposal is not dependent on any third party funding. If successful the scheme will be delivered using the DfT ZEBRA grant and Warrington Borough Council resources. Warrington’s Own Buses (WOB) will pay an appropriate lease value to the council for the buses. A4. Funding from other government schemes (£m) No other Government funding is required for this project. The proposal does, however, complement funding secured from Government through the Town Deal and the Getting Building Fund. Amongst other improvements, funding secured from these two sources is being used for the delivery of a new bus depot and to implement new bus priority measures. Warrington Borough Council have also underwritten £2.93m of the overall cost of the bus depot that will be used exclusively by the largest bus operator in Warrington, namely Warrington’s Own Buses. Further details of this can be found in section F.1.2. A5. Total cost of the proposal (£m): As noted in A1, we have considered this as a 30 year project. Over those 30 years, the total investment required is estimated to be £97,218,000. That figure includes: First round of new buses (Year 1 - with ZEBRA funding contribution) Infrastructure costs (Year 1 – with ZEBRA funding contribution) Battery Refresh (Year 10) Second round of new buses (Year 15) Second battery refresh (Year 25) A6, If your bid is successful, are you able to invest DfT funding within the time outlined by your scheme? Yes. As set out in Section F, the new fleet of buses can be operational within two years of a successful funding announcement. A7. If your bid is successful, are you able to capitalise DfT grant funding? Yes A8. Have you considered whether additional zero emission buses are needed to replace existing buses? This issue has been the subject of discussion between Warrington Borough Council and Warrington’s Own Buses. If we are successful in this bid, Warrington’s Own Buses fleet will be converted to electric buses and the new electric fleet will be charged overnight when services are not operating. This means that the same size of fleet as is currently operational will be required. More details on the number of buses that we are bidding for funding for can be found in Section E. A9. Have you provided a breakdown of infrastructure costs for your proposal? Yes, a full breakdown of all costs is included in the financial model included in Appendix 3. A10. Does your proposal have the support of bus operator(s) in the area? This application has been developed in partnership with Warrington’s Own Buses, who operate 85% of our network and are very supportive of the proposals. This is confirmed in a letter of support that is appended. In a meeting in on 16th April, we engaged all local operators in Warrington in the early discussions on the development of our Bus Service Improvement Plan. At this meeting, and subsequently via email, all operators were offered the opportunity to be involved in this project. All other operators are supportive of proposals to enhance bus provision in the borough, but do not feel it appropriate to be part of this bid at the current time. Warrington’s Own Buses are committed to de-carbonising all of their operations. They will look to upgrade ancillary vehicles once the bus fleet becomes electric. They are also encouraging staff to shift to electric vehicles for their journey to work and within their new depot there will be provision of electric vehicle charging points for staff use. Warrington’s Own Buses also operate services out to Liverpool City Region, Greater Manchester, Cheshire West and Cheshire East. These areas will also benefit from the environmental improvements associated with zero emission buses. A11. Have you spoken with any energy companies when preparing your proposal? Yes, Scottish Power have been involved in the development of our proposal. A letter of support from them is included in the appendices. Additionally, through the Rewire partnership we have been working with Pure Leapfrog to identify innovative technology for charging buses and battery storage options. These will be explored further in the next round of the application process if we are successful at this expression of interest stage. Pure Leapfrog’s commitment to our proposal is expressed in their letter of support in the appendix. We have also had discussions with Zenobe regarding battery storage solutions. A12. Does your proposal comply with the accessibility requirements set out in the scheme guidance? Yes. Our proposal will see Warrington’s Own Buses entire fleet replaced with new electric vehicles. As new vehicles, these will be accessible and adhere to equalities legislation including the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000. We are very happy to commit to all of the new buses providing an enhanced level of accessibility, including: • Equipment to identify the route, each upcoming stop, and the beginning and end of diversions: o Visibly, using at least one screen on any deck, with the lower deck screen visible from all priority seats; o Audibly, with announcements audible on any deck, including in the pri- ority seats and wheelchair space; and o Using induction loops, in priority seats and the wheelchair space. • An induction loop to aid direct communication between drivers and passengers who use a hearing aid. • An additional flexible space in addition to the mandatory wheelchair space, suit- able for a second wheelchair user and/or at least two unfolded pushchairs or prams. SECTION B. Defining the place B.1. Warrington Warrington is the largest urban area in Cheshire by some way and is one of the largest free standing urban areas in the North West of England outside the two conurbations of Merseyside and Greater Manchester. The defined area for this application covers the entire borough of Warrington, which comprises the main urban area, surrounded by a rural hinterland which includes a number of distinct settlements. A map of the borough and our location in the North West is shown in Figure 1. Figure 1: Warrington’s Location B.2. An Economic Success Story Warrington has a strong and resilient economy, and one of the most successful towns in the UK today in terms of economic development, investment, employment rates and growth; and over the last ten years has repeatedly been recognised as such in national research and league tables such as the Centre for Cities ‘Cities Outlook’. Omega in the West of Warrington has been one of the most successful development areas. A 233ha mixed use development being delivered over 25 years. The growth of logistics and manufacturing on this site has created some 8,000 new jobs with employers including Brakes, Hermes, Travis Perkins, ASDA, the Hut Group and Plastic Omnium. Development of some 1,100 new homes is underway. Birchwood Park in the east of the borough is central to the Cheshire Science Corridor Enterprise Zone. Over 160 companies, including Nuclear Decommissioning Agency, are located on the Park, employing over 6,000 people. B.3. Levelling Up Although Warrington is a prosperous Borough, it is also an unequal one and a key defining feature of Warrington is the marked differences in prosperity and quality of life within the Borough.
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