Auckland now runs the largest e-bus fleet in New Zealand
Auckland Transport provides an update on the electrification of the city’s bus fleet. According to the update, 133 electric buses are already in use in Auckland, making it the largest e-bus fleet in New Zealand.
Auckland Transport is building on earlier advances that encouraged it to bring forward the target date for complete conversion to e-buses by five years from 2040 to 2035.
Auckland Transport has only procured zero-emission buses since July 2021. AT’s original Low Emission Roadmap had envisioned this step not to occur until 2025.
Since establishing the Roadmap in 2018, with the first revision in 2020, AT has conducted several trials with zero-emission buses and is currently building up to a fleet of 152 zero-emission buses. All trials to date have delivered positive results in service reliability, customer experience, and operational savings, the agency said today.
“This has given both AT and our operators confidence that zero-emission vehicles can perform the duties required of them in terms of range and for lower operational costs per kilometre compared to diesel,” Edward Wright, AT’s Manager of Metro Specifications, said.
“We have had great feedback from our customers about travelling on the quieter and smoother buses too.”
Auckland Transport is responsible for transport projects and services under the Auckland Council. The organisation undertakes a regular greenhouse gas emissions inventory to track its progress towards reducing its emissions footprint.
The FY 2021-2022 inventory highlighted that the bus fleet is responsible for 79 per cent of the organisation’s emissions, emitting 75,530 tonnes of CO2.
“This emphasises how critical delivering a fully zero-emission bus fleet is for Auckland Transport,” Wright said.
The revised target and progress made to date also set the company in line with New Zealand’s target to decarbonise the fleets by 2035.
Most electric buses on the road in Auckland come from Chinese manufacturers, but AT has not detailed the full fleet specifications. The operator points out that it is electrifying entire routes in the network.
The agency is also trialling fuel-cell electric buses.
1 Comment