Report

Inventory of safety aspects of zero-emission buses

As is the case with fossil-fuelled buses, zero-emission buses must meet strict safety requirements in order to be allowed on the road. This study shows that there is no evidence that there are greater safety risks associated with ZE buses than with fossil-fuelled buses, but rather that the risks differ.

At the request of CROW, CE Delft has compiled an overview of the available knowledge on safety aspects (see CROW publication). For the study, 15 interviews were conducted and 153 academic and semi-academic sources were studied. In cases where existing knowledge was lacking, knowledge gaps were formulated and an approach for filling these knowledge gaps was defined. The study is an important part of BAZEB’s knowledge agenda and satisfies the information requirements of road authorities, public transport authorities, public transport operators and the national government.

The goal of the Administrative Agreement on Zero Emission Buses (BAZEB) is that by 2025 all new public transport buses in the Netherlands will be zero-emission (ZE), and that by 2030 public transport companies will exclusively use ZE buses. ZE buses can be either battery electric (BEV buses) or fuel cell electric (FCEV buses). These buses are still relatively new and there is not as much experience with them as with fossil-fuelled buses. During the transition to zero-emission bus transport, it is a prerequisite that safety is guaranteed. A complete overview of the safety aspects that need to be taken into account when using ZE buses was lacking, as well as a bundling of the available knowledge.

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