Resources

Zero emission bus economics study

Description:

This research created a tool that allows Public Transport Authorities (PTAs) and NZTA to weigh the costs and benefits of different bus technologies available for decarbonisation, and the cost and benefits of using those technologies to replace and retire diesel buses.

The key findings of the research were:

• The emissions saved by retiring diesel buses early far outweigh the emissions generated by constructing replacement ZEB.
• Operations and maintenance costs, particularly energy costs, are the main factors affecting the total cost of ownership (TCO) for different bus technologies and are more significant than initial capital expenditure.
• Battery electric buses are the lowest cost option for replacing existing diesel buses. This is because of the high cost of hydrogen in New Zealand at the time of the research and the importance of fuel costs in overall TCO.