Clearly the operational stage is the most important aspect of a FCB project. It is the reason for embarking on the project and will provide critical information to determine the future of the application of H2 and FCB technology at that site. It will also be the most public activity of the project and therefore most open to scrutiny. Success is critical and only careful and thorough planning can achieve this. The saying “Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail” certainly holds true when applied to a FCB Project.
While there are some Best Practices that are applicable to only the planning for the bus or the HRS operations, there are some general approaches and actions that are applicable to both.
Planning Challenges and Best Practice Solutions related specifically to HRSs or to FCBs are also addressed but it should be noted here that many of these have been re-iterated in the Deployment and Operations Stage. This is because some of these challenges related to planning only come into clear focus when operations are imminent. JIVE/JIVE 2 sites reported a lot of activity during Deployment to address issues that might have been planned for but had either slipped out of focus or could only be implemented at the immediate pre-operations stage.
Some of the most useful resources for planning for operations have been provided.
Finally, a useful list of performance parameters, originally expected by operating sites for both the HRSs and FCBs, is also provided. For a more detailed explanation of these, including post project evaluation of these expectations, see Annex C of the JIVE & JIVE2 Best Practice Report 2024.
Challenges and Solutions for Planning for Operations
