Diesel bus days are numbered

Up to 40 fully-electric buses a year could be added to the Wellington region’s public transport fleet as the region looks to make good on its promise of phasing out diesels.

Greater Wellington Regional Council will assess the merits of a proposal to replace up to 10 per cent of its diesel bus fleet with fully-electric vehicles each year from 2019, and ensure no new diesel buses enter the fleet.

There are about 420 buses in the fleet at the moment, with new operator Tranzit to provide the only non-diesel vehicles when it introduces its 10 electric doubledeckers from July 15. It will introduce another 22 by 2021.

The council has also proposed to make the Karori-Seatoun route in Wellington city fully electric by June 2021, and the Johnsonville-Island Bay service electric by 2023. Tranzit’s first batch of double-deckers will operate on the latter route.

Porirua and Hutt Valley commuters would also see a change, with a core route in each of those areas to become allelectric as more electric buses enter the fleet.

The recommendations were made at the council’s sustainable transport committee meeting on Wednesday by the committee’s deputy chairman Daran Ponter.

The council voted 11-1 for staff to look into the proposals and report back to the committee by the end of the year. Lower Hutt representative David Ogden voted against the proposals.

The council recently introduced new rules limiting diesels to at least a Euro 4 emission standard for existing operators, and Euro 5 or 6 – the highest global emission standard – for new operators. Ponter said the new targets would signify a stronger commitment from the council in working towards an all-electric fleet.

‘‘All we have is this aspirational statement that says in the future, sometime, we want to be the first region in New Zealand to have all-electric public transport,’’ he said.

‘‘So I’m attempting to put a bit of substance behind that because people are getting a little bit sceptical that the council actually has a plan behind this thing, and I think that scepticism is not unfounded.’’

There was a desire within the council to make the changes, but its recent focus had been on major network changes that will be rolled out in Wellington city from July 15, Ponter said.

There would need to be New Zealand Transport Agency support, as well as an agreement from bus operators.

New contracts had recently been signed as part of the network overhaul, and Ponter acknowledged the proposals may require a reworking of some of those agreements.

‘‘We’ll need to talk with those companies about adapting their fleet and bringing in more electric buses,’’ he said. ‘‘It will be a challenge.’’

The majority of Wellington’s commuter bus services will be run by Tranzit from July 15. NZ Bus, Mana Coach Services and Uzabus will also be on board. Tranzit and NZ Bus have contracts elsewhere in New Zealand, and could potentially move existing diesel buses out of the capital and into those centres, Ponter said.