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Big cities need to clean up their air, and cutting noise pollution is a great idea as well. Few solutions could be better than electric buses for both of these things. Actually, there may be no better single solution. Electric buses have also now be cost competitive for several years, or even a decade in some cases (the head of Barcelona’s transit agency told me in 2013 that BYD electric buses had become cost competitive with conventional fossil-fueled buses on a total cost of ownership basis). So, the only thing I can truly say is surprising is that most cities haven’t electrified their entire bus fleets by now.
The good news is the enormous city of Mumbai in India is planning to electrify thousands of buses soon — 8,000 of them by 2027. A key focus there is to help cut air pollution, which still torments the city, but the side benefit will surely be lower operational costs for the transit agency as well.
“By 2027, BEST aims to more than double its fleet and also achieve 100% electrification, the public transport undertaking has announced in its budget for 2025–2026. It proposes to have 8,000 electric buses by then—from the existing 711—phasing out the other old buses. To reach the target, BEST will buy 2,650 electric buses in a year,” The Times of India writes.
This includes 1,000 electric double-decker buses, up from the 50 the city currently has. The double-deckers are focused on adding capacity to routes where more capacity is needed.
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