The ORC has signed off on a contract with Ritchies Transport for the delivery of a new fleet of electric buses, which will begin servicing "a number" of Dunedin routes.
ORC chairman Andrew Noone said it followed the successful trial of an electric bus in Dunedin last year.
"The Otago Regional Council is excited to be taking this step towards a cleaner and greener transport network.
"Ritchies Transport gave us the option of not only a low emission fleet, but a zero-emission fleet, and we’re very excited about the positive impact this will have on the city," he said.
Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins was also delighted with the announcement.
"We know that our bus service needs to play a bigger role in the future of Dunedin’s transport network.
"Having it fuelled by zero-emission vehicles is absolutely the direction we need to be heading in."
ORC’s Regional Public Transport Plan previously signalled the council would introduce zero-carbon emission vehicles, in alignment with national plans for public transport decarbonisation.
An electric bus trial was carried out last October to test viability on Dunedin’s public transport routes, including hills, the city centre and motorways.
The overall feedback from passengers was positive.
ORC implementation adviser Abbey Chamberlain said the electric bus trial showed between 40% and 50% of battery was used on a full day of service and the bus performed well on hills, mitigating concerns about lack of battery power and range.
"It was found that this type of electric bus can operate well on a large part of Dunedin’s public transport network," she said.
The new buses would not be the same as the trial bus, but would have the same amount of seating as the present fleet.
Mr Noone said the partnership put Otago "ahead of the game", because central government policy required no new fossil-fuelled buses to be introduced from 2025.
"Operating these electric buses from October 2023 is the beginning of our very necessary shift to non-diesel transport.
"This action is one of many that will help Otago meet our climate change goals."
He said a diesel fleet would have used 238,081 litres of fuel per annum, or 2,142,729 litres across the entirety of the contract now awarded to 11 of Ritchies’ electric buses.
ORC’s fleet would be "zero emissions" from 2026 for the duration of the remainder of the contract.
Prior to 2026, the fleet will be near-zero, with diesel buses being limited to a small number of school trips.
Although costs of electric buses can vary, the cost increase from purchasing them will likely be offset over the years, with lower running costs, he said.
