The trolleybus: why not

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The trolleybus why not?
THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
COMMITTEE Section for Transport, Energy,
Infrastructure and the Information Society
HEARING - Theme bottlenecks in transport
porto hotel sheraton, 2007.11.19
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The trolleybus why not?

• Why is the trolleybus seen as the transport
  system of the future?
• Why is the trolleybus called a smart urban
  transport system?
• In Development policy for public transport
  trolleybus subsystems, UITP International
  Association of Public TransportTrolleybus
  Working Group, 2007

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The trolleybus why not?
Because (trolleybus main advantages)

• It is energetically more efficient smaller
  consumption
• It is more powerful at slow speed witch means
  bigger commercial speed and less vehicles for the
  same service
• It can operate in any kind of urban street/road
• It does not issue neither pollutant gases or
  particulates, neither water steam and is almost
  noiseless
• It has an excellent service quality comfortable,
  reliable, fast, silent, attractive to the public

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The trolleybus why not?
Because (trolleybus main advantages)

• It has very reduced maintenance and smaller
  operational or maintenance costs
• It has an excellent dynamic capabilities, is
  flexible on roads and can use batteries,
  capacitors or flywheels for power or energy with
  regeneration
• The investment for the infrastructure is cheaper
  than for a tram system 10 times faster to
  install, 80 cheaper to build with power
  infrastructure lighter and with a life of 50 - 60
  years and with only 50 of the operational
  costs

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The trolleybus why not?
Because (trolleybus main advantages)

• It has greater durability 4 times more than the
  amortization period of the investment less
  resources consumption for its replacement
• Motorbus 14 years
• Trolleybus 25 years

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The trolleybus why not?
However

• there are several bottlenecks
• external
• in-house.

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The trolleybus why not?
External bottlenecks

• High vehicles prices

but decreasing
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The trolleybus why not?
In-house bottlenecks

• Due to the different legal types of UTP operator
  in Portugal, is not possible to take advantages
  of economy of scale profits, e.g., joint purchase
  orders, sharing know-how and managing macro
  perspectives

• There is the need of a supra-municipal entity
  (IMTT?) who could play this role.
• or
• Change the legal structure of urban public
  transports operators.

S. A.(Lisboa, Porto)
Directly
(Bragança)
Supra-municipal entity
(Coimbra, Portalegre, Barreiro)
Municipality Services
C. M.
Municipality Enterprises
(Aveiro, Braga, Évora)
Private
Concessionaire
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The trolleybus why not?
In-house bottlenecks

• Lack of knowledge by whom should decide about
  diverse vehicles/ technologies potentialities

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The trolleybus why not?
In-house bottlenecks

• The initial investment is higher than other bus
  system w/ thermal motor but less than fuelcell
  bus or trams
• Often the final decision is almost only based on
  purchase costs no other figures/factors are
  considered
• Lack of support to whom want to invest in clean
  vehicles

• A more or less complex power feeder
  infrastructures are needed
• For some ones, theses aerial lines are a kind of
  visual pollution
• For others, they are a guide indicator, or an
  urban furniture, and represents a visible face
  of the bus system like road signs, etc.

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The trolleybus why not?
But

• there are also many opportunities and
  solutions
• external
• in-house.

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The trolleybus why not?
External opportunities

• Fossil fuel prices increases every day

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The trolleybus why not?
In-house opportunities

• The sector of the transports contributes with 38
  for the emissions of pollutant gases in
  Portugal, of which more than 90 respects to
  individual transport.
• CO2 emissions in Portugal are bigger every day
  Kyoto target for 2012 is already exceeded by 50
  (from planed 27 it already reached 40,4 )

However
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The trolleybus why not?
In-house opportunities

• Renewable Energy Sources contributed in 2006 with
  36 in the electric generation, and growing 39
  is the planed target for 2010.
• Portugal was, in 2005, the sixth country of
  European Union with bigger percentage of renewal
  energies.
• Orography of some cities in the country appeals
  for the usage of electric traction.

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The trolleybus why not?
Solutions

• Entities/entreprises who could draw a complete
• integrated transport network studies in which all
  vehicles/technologies are analyzed and considered
  and choose the best ones suitable for each
  case/purpose
• economical and financial comparative studies for
  diverse types of vehicles and technologies.
• UE may support
• financial funding lines (w/ low taxes and long
  terms)
• partnerships w/ other electric traction cities in
  UE
• Cheaper electricity for transports
• Invest in environmental marketing

its elegant to travel by trolleybus
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The trolleybus why not?

• APETc Associação Portuguesa dos Entusiastas por
  Troleicarros
• http//apetc.pt.tl
• apetc_at_sapo.pt

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