Canterbury Regional Council is celebrating its 21 newest electric buses, as it looks towards an “all-electric future.”
The buses, which will be used on its urban fleet, bring its total number of electric vehicles (EVs) to 65.
Councillor Vicky Southworth said the urban bus fleet is now 26% electric.
“To have 21 more buses connecting people across Greater Christchurch every day, with zero emissions, is progress that I’m really proud of,” she said.
Source: Environment Canterbury
Four of the buses arrived in January, with the remaining 17 having arrived in the last month.
10 of the new EVs were funded through New Zealand Transport Agency’s Climate Emergency Response Fund programme.
Environment Canterbury Public Transport general manager Stewart Gibbon said “We successfully bid for money from this fund and are really pleased to see it come to fruition in the form of these new EVs.
Source: Environment Canterbury
“The other buses were funded through a combination of NZTA’s National Land Transport Fund and Environment Canterbury’s 2023/24 Annual Plan and 2024-2034 Long-Term Plan.”
Two of the new vehicles are set to be used on the Orbiter route, while the other 19 are being deployed across the network where they will get maximum use.
