Auckland's bus clean-up: Low emission or low ambition?

Monday, 10 December 2018

It's already the beginning of the end for Auckland's new diesel-powered double-decker buses.

OPINION: Public transport is one answer to lowering pollution, but does it really help if you jump on a rumbling diesel, fume-belching bus?

That's where Auckland Transport's low emission bus roadmap comes in, a paper navigating the pluses and pitfalls of having an entirely low-emission by fleet by 2040.

But in a city which is pulling together a national-scale Climate Change Symposium next March, are the plans of its transport agency more low-ambition than low-emission?

The key dates in the roadmap are 2025 when new buses purchased must be low-emission, and 2040 by which time the entire fleet - currently 1300 buses - should be low-emission.

* Auckland extends electric bus trial to airport

* Electric buses in Christchurch to help cut emissions

The C40 global cities group is committed to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius long term.

* Fully-electric double-decker buses hit Wellington's streets for the first time**

Battery-powered buses are envisaged as the likely technology. Two are being trialled on Auckland routes now, 10 are in-service in Wellington, and three are heading for Christchurch.

However in the year that Auckland Transport has been working on its roadmap, the political climate around the need to reduce greenhouse gases has heated up.

The C40 global cities group to which Auckland belongs is committed to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius long term, and Auckland is working on it plan to achieve that.

'The next four years will determine whether or not the world's megacities can deliver their part of the ambition of the Paris Agreement,' the C40 report said.

Auckland's diesel buses are just part of the mix, but AT's roadmap highlights some of the challenges.

Operators have invested heavily in new diesel buses over the past couple of years, in order to win public transport contracts.

Of the bus fleet, 45 per cent is 2 years old or younger, meaning they have an economic life of a further 18-20 years, and more will be bought to cope with growth.

Auckland's current tendering system for bus public transport contracts is largely a competition on lowest price.

The AT report notes that if the cost of buses required under contracts goes up, so will the cost of the ratepayer-funded contracts.

Wellington's double-decker electrics cost $1 million versus a comparable diesel at $640,000. Charging equipment runs into millions and upgrades of the electricity network may be needed.

Diesel vehicles are thought to be responsible for 81 per cent of health costs linked to air pollution, with 130 premature deaths annually from motor vehicle fumes.

Once over the hump of purchase, running costs for a battery bus are a quarter of a diesel.

Auckland Transport's commendably thorough assessment of the road to a low-emission bus fleet may be overtaken by increasing urgency to tackle climate change.

AT's parent, Auckland Council is putting together a Climate Change Symposium in March, with hopes of more ambitious action plans.

A 12-year path to removing diesel buses from Auckland's streets may not make the grade.

Auckland's certainly been overtaken by Wellington, where operator Tranzit has skipped the two-bus-trial scenario and put 10, compact 66-seater double-deckers into normal service.

The first fast-charger should be running within within weeks, and Tranzit's Transport and Operations director Keven Snelgrove hopes with public-funding support to have a fleet of 60-70 in 18 months.

Auckland in contrast, is open to buying new diesels for another 7 years.

Mayor Phil Goff, who in 2017 signed the global C40 commitment to buy only low-emission buses after 2025, now sees that as possibly too slow.

'Particularly with latest information on the Queen Street Valley that shows black carbon emissions are above safe levels, there's an imperative to do more, and more quickly,' he told Stuff.