TruckTower seeks EIT Urban Mobility funding for VerTIBUS vertical bus depot project

German startup TruckTower has submitted the VerTIBUS funding proposal to assess the feasibility of vertical bus depot infrastructure for public transport operators across Europe.

TruckTower GmbH has submitted the funding proposal under the EIT Urban Mobility Strategic Innovation Open Call. According to TruckTower, the project is intended to evaluate the technical, economic and regulatory feasibility of vertical bus depot concepts and establish a decision framework for their wider application in the European public transport sector.

The proposal is led by TruckTower together with a consortium including Fraunhofer IVI, emutec GRID SYSTEMS, Luetkens Architektur, IPROCONSULT, SiKo, TAIVR / Nicole Noack and Arriva as operator partner.

VerTIBUS to evaluate nine potential bus depot applications

TruckTower says that, if funding is approved, the VerTIBUS project is expected to run for 24 months. The company also states that discussions with transport operators, infrastructure owners and municipalities regarding depot capacity constraints and potential future applications are continuing independently of the funding process.

TruckTower states that the VerTIBUS proposal already involves five public transport operators and nine potential depot sites or application cases. These sites represent different operating conditions, including urban retrofit depots, electrification bottlenecks, operator portfolio scenarios, service-centre applications and greenfield or relocation projects.

In brief

• What is VerTIBUS? A funding proposal submitted under the EIT Urban Mobility Strategic Innovation Open Call to evaluate vertical bus depot infrastructure.
• Who is leading the project? TruckTower GmbH leads the consortium, which includes Fraunhofer IVI, emutec GRID SYSTEMS, Luetkens Architektur, IPROCONSULT, SiKo, TAIVR / Nicole Noack and ARRIVA.
• How many operators and depot sites are involved?
  The proposal includes five transport operators and nine potential depot sites or application cases.
• What is the planned duration if approved? TruckTower states that VerTIBUS would run for 24 months if the funding proposal is selected.

The project remains open to additional transport operators willing to contribute operational data, depot sites or case studies during the project period.

According to TruckTower, the initiative focuses on infrastructure challenges associated with the electrification of bus fleets, including parking capacity, charging infrastructure, electrical grid connections and operational safety requirements. BusTower has been developed as a vertical infrastructure concept aimed at increasing depot capacity where land availability is constrained.

Technical, regulatory and economic assessment of BusTower

The VerTIBUS project will assess technical configurations, safety and fire-protection requirements, regulatory frameworks, charging and grid integration concepts, as well as economic models related to depot operations. According to TruckTower, one of the project’s outputs will be a transferable decision framework identifying the conditions under which a vertical BusTower solution can be applied compared with conventional depot expansion, construction of new depots or relocation.

Felix Hackbarth, Managing Director of TruckTower GmbH, said: “With VerTIBUS, we create a robust decision basis for when vertical depot infrastructure is technically feasible, economically viable and approvable for transport operators. BusTower is not merely a research concept. TruckTower has the system competence, IP basis and partner network to plan and implement such projects already today. VerTIBUS will further support the systematic assessment, standardization and scaling of the solution for additional European operators.”