Auckland Transport (AT) has taken arrival of the first double decker electric bus to the Auckland bus fleet.
Mayor of Auckland, Wayne Brown, joined AT’s chief executive Dean Kimpton and Kinetic’s managing director for New Zealand, Calum Haslop, for a test drive of the new bus in Māngere, at bus operator Kinetic’s south depot.
Auckland now has 138 zero-emission buses in the fleet, making it the largest number for a New Zealand city and in the top two for the whole of Australasia.
Edward Wright, AT’s infrastructure and fleet specification manager, says it’s exciting to witness the launch of the very first electric double decker.
“We are sure our customers will love the experience of travelling on the quieter and smoother bus too. It will primarily service Mt Eden Road, Great North Road and Dominion Road routes. This will be a great opportunity for Kinetic (the bus operator) to test how an electric double decker performs in Auckland conditions.”
Auckland Transport undertakes a regular greenhouse gas emissions inventory to track its progress towards reducing its emissions footprint.
The inventory undertaken for financial year 2021-2022 highlighted that the bus fleet is responsible for 79% of the organisation’s emissions.
“This emphasises how critical delivering a fully zero-emission bus fleet is for Auckland Transport,” Wright says.
An average double decker diesel bus in the fleet in Auckland consumes 29,485 litres of diesel in a year, which works out to 79,020 kgs of CO2 emissions.
The introduction of this electric double decker will reduce carbon emissions, on a one for one basis, of 79 tonnes per year.