The bus market in Europe is changing. The continent’s bus fleets are growing and becoming cleaner. For many government agencies and bus companies, increasing sustainability is a major concern. While ambition is admirable, it must be accompanied by realistic expectations for capacity and fair goals. Nevertheless, the results of our 2023 Bus Fleet Survey indicate that the bus sector is moving in the right direction.
KEY PROJECTS
Following the groundbreaking work of the ZeEUS project and its two e-Bus reports, UITP published the Clean Bus Report in 2022 as part of the ASSURED project to give a comprehensive assessment of the development of the European bus sector. These kinds of resources are essential in an industry where data is frequently dispersed. We are also in a better position to monitor the trends that will shape the future of buses in Europe because of these initiatives.
The UITP Vehicles and Equipment Industry Committee launched the Bus Fleet Survey 2023, which expands on the work done in prior years. With significant sustainability goals established for 2025 and 2030 at the European level, it is imperative that the bus industry understands its achievements and possible future hazards. Public and commercial transport companies, as well as public transport authorities that either run or contract out the service, contributed to this Europe-wide poll, which was organized by UITP.
THE STATS
Three-quarters of respondents gave us data on fleet evolution, which shows us what changes to anticipate over the next ten years. Approximately 25% of the buses included in the survey are currently emission-free. Furthermore, by 2027, this will have doubled, bringing the fleet of clean energy buses to 52%, which will increase to 70% by 2030. Of course, this development isn’t quite quick enough for communities like the 112 cities in the NetZeroCities project who want to become climate neutral by the end of the decade. Battery electric buses are by far the most widely used type of zero-emission transport. By 2030, there will be around 11,000 battery buses, up from 1,621 in 2022, accounting for more than half of the fleet.
Although other technologies like opportunity charging will also be used, these buses primarily use plug-in overnight charging. Additionally, there will be almost 1,000 battery trolleybuses, more than doubling in number. Around 65% of Europe’s trolleybuses will be located in Central and Eastern Europe, which is where this shift is most noticeable. Naturally, the sustainability of battery-electric buses and trolleybuses depends on the energy source they run on! Because of this, decarbonizing a fleet of buses requires more than just focusing on the cars; we also need to make sure that the entire energy source is sustainable.
ALTERNATIVE FUEL
In the meanwhile, the European bus fleet will continue to include a modest number of hydrogen-powered buses. The report projects a little increase to slightly under 350 automobiles in practically all of the countries it questioned, from a base of just 19 vehicles in 2022. However, by 2030, hydrogen-powered buses will make up less than 2% of Europe’s whole bus fleet. Additionally, although cutting emissions will be made possible by novel fuels like hydrogen and biofuel, data from the organizations polled indicates that they won’t be able to claim a larger proportion of the bus market than today.
TEH FUTUIE
The size of the entire European bus fleet is expected to grow by about 6% by 2030, according to data given by more than 40 organizations throughout Europe. The increase in Western Europe is a remarkable 10%. There will undoubtedly be more and cleaner buses in Europe in the future. Expanding bus fleets will be essential to satisfying Europe’s growing demand. The International Transport Forum predicts that over the next few decades, Europe’s passenger demand will expand at the fastest rate of any high-income region—even faster than the global average.