Transportation is one of the largest sources of carbon emissions, and amid the barrage of big-picture initiatives and bold pledges, one of the simplest, quickest-to-implement solutions is electrifying buses.
Unlike so many other proposed climate change solutions, electrifying buses is literally plug-and-play: The technology exists and can immediately be added to existing transit systems. For example, in Shenzhen, China, the city’s entire fleet of just over 16,000 buses has transitioned to electric power; that’s more than the combined number of buses operating in New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto, Chicago, and the entire state of New Jersey.
A pair of new reports by the World Resources Institute (WRI) offers a comprehensive look at the state of electric bus adoption and provides a roadmap for the technology’s possibilities. Barriers to Adopting Electric Buses and How to Enable Electric Bus Adoption in Cities Worldwide present case studies from 16 different transit agencies in China, Europe, and the U.S. as part of a how-to guide to electrification. The reports also include advice on coping with new technological, financial, and institutional challenges.