Tackling the challenges of climate change is a national priority and BusConnects will contribute significantly to that objective. Moving people from cars onto sustainable transport is essential in reducing CO2 emissions and addressing congestion.
Additionally, transitioning to a fleet of low and zero emission urban buses will contribute to a cleaner and more liveable city by reducing noise and air pollution.
This urban bus fleet transition has already begun under BusConnects Dublin. A depot electrification project is underway to install multiple electric chargers in Summerhill and Phibsboro depots for the new electric fleet. It is intended that the new electric buses will be brought into operational service later this year (2023) on an incremental basis. Diesel vehicles will be gradually swapped out and electric buses swapped in on a week-by-week basis over about a three-month period.
The ultimate transition to zero emission urban buses will occur under the Government’s renewal programme, a process which has initially been encompassed within the BusConnects Dublin programme.
Under the latter programme, the NTA intends that the Dublin Metropolitan Area urban bus network will be operated solely by low and zero emission buses by 2032 and solely by zero emission buses by 2035. It is also the NTA’s intention that similar transition timeframes will apply in the other cities.
Sustainability and greener cities are cornerstones of the BusConnects programme. A new fleet of low and zero emission urban buses coupled with improved cycling facilities will result in more people using more eco-friendly modes of transport across the cities of Ireland.
A photo of a line-up of plug-in hybrid double deck buses can be seen below;
