Today’s Solutions: May 05, 2024

Although it looks as if the era of fossil-fuel powered cars has peaked, it will still be a number of years until these cars are off our roadways completely, with 2050 being estimated as the year electric cars take over for good. But there’s one type of conventional vehicle that is phasing out much faster: the bus.

The humble municipal bus is on the vanguard of the electric evolution. In fact, the head of transport for BloombergNEF estimates almost 70 percent of the world’s buses will be electric by 2040. That compares to just under 40% for all other types of vehicles. Electric buses, like many fleet-owned and commercial vehicles, make a compelling business case. While the sticker price for an EV is generally higher than conventional vehicles, the total cost of ownership—upfront price plus fuel, maintenance, and other costs—is already lower in some cases. New York City, for example, said this year electric cars in its fleet are already its least expensive option.

And while America has slowly started to embrace electric buses, China has made electric buses a priority. Two cities—Guangzhou and Shenzhen—have converted their entire municipal bus fleet to electric. Shenzen’s 16,359 electric buses outnumber the entire bus fleet of New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, and Chicago combined.

Solutions News Source Print this article
More of Today's Solutions

You can now take Yale’s most popular class online for free

What is the most popular class at one of the world’s most prestigious schools? At Yale, the most popular course on campus is not ...

Read More

Listen to this fascinating piece of ambient music composed by stars

Though we can’t hear them, stars propagate some incredibly soothing soundscapes through the vacuum of space. And for the first time, music composed from ...

Read More

Did you know that volunteering is good for your health?

Volunteering is a great way to have a positive impact while connecting to your community, but did you know that volunteering is actually good ...

Read More

White House and 11 East Coast states partner to bolster offshore wind power

On Thursday, the White House announced that it will partner with 11 East Coast states to bolster offshore wind energy.  This arrangement, called the ...

Read More