A trial of buses using alternative fuels has concluded that fully-electric buses would be the best option for Canberra.
Speaking to the Australian Transport Research Forum, Minister for Transport, Chris Steel said the trial was part of a plan to transition to a zero emission vehicle fleet.
Mr Steel said data were collected during an independent trial testing electric, hybrid and diesel buses with on-board operational data from data loggers installed in the trial buses.
He said surveys of drivers and passengers were also conducted.
“Overall the fully-electric buses performed best in relation to environmental emissions, energy efficiency, and whole of life economic costs,” Mr Steel said.
He said the diesel buses generally performed better in relation to daily operational and financial costs and the performance of hybrid buses generally fell between the diesel and electric bus for all criteria.
He said based on total monthly greenhouse gas emissions for each bus type, switching from diesel buses to electric buses would result in less emissions and would help the Territory to its net zero emission targets.
“The diesel buses had higher passenger capacity and reliability, with lower capital costs and whole of life financial costs,” Mr Steel said.
“However the future of diesel buses is limited due to the ACT’s leading role in transitioning to a zero emissions fleet,” he said.
“Importantly, passengers indicated that they were satisfied with both the hybrid and electric buses in terms of noise, smell and smoothness of travel.”
Mr Steel said the trial had shown that zero emissions vehicles were a viable alternative for Canberra’s public transport network going forward.
