{"id":565851,"date":"2026-03-26T15:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T15:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/565851\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T15:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T15:30:08","slug":"australia-urged-to-swap-diesel-for-electric-buses-as-fuel-costs-soar-transport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/565851\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia urged to swap diesel for electric buses as fuel costs soar | Transport"},"content":{"rendered":"

As diesel climbs past $3 a litre<\/a> amid fuel security concerns, transport advocates are calling for the rollout of electric buses across Australia to be prioritised.<\/p>\n

In Australia, just 1% of buses are electric, compared with 80% of the urban fleet in China, a quarter in the Netherlands and 12% in the UK.<\/p>\n

Metro trams and trains mostly run on electricity, while buses \u2013 a core part of Australia\u2019s public transport system \u2013 remain highly dependent on diesel, consuming about 530m litres<\/a> a year.<\/p>\n

Industry body the Bus Industry Confederation wants buses to be prioritised in fuel security planning.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuses carry more than half of Australia\u2019s public transport passengers,\u201d the confederation\u2019s executive director, Varenya Mohan\u2011Ram, said. \u201cFuel security is not just an operational matter. It is a matter of social equity and community resilience.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re taking kids to school, we\u2019re getting people to work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the lifeblood of regional Australia, in terms of keeping people connected.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just don\u2019t have enough electric buses to carry Australians every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Australia, nearly 42,800 diesel buses were registered in 2025, compared with 629 that were battery electric \u2013 about 1% of the heavy bus fleet \u2013 according to government data<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton\u2019s Clear Air column as a free newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n

Most states and territories have targets to transition their fleets. Canberra and greater Sydney will be fully electric by 2040. E-buses already make up about 24% of the ACT\u2019s fleet.<\/p>\n

The ACT transport minister, Chris Steel, said: \u201cEach electric bus is powered by 100% renewable electricity produced in Australia, they are cheaper to operate and not reliant on foreign fuels.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Australia will hit 81 e-buses this year \u2013 about 8% of the fleet \u2013 while Western Australia rolled out its 100th<\/a>, and all new buses purchased in Victoria are electric.<\/p>\n

An electric bus at a charging depot in Melbourne. Rising fuel prices and uncertainty about supply make e-buses an attractive option, experts say. Photograph: James Ross\/AAP<\/p>\n

\u201cE-buses are by far the most impactful way to cut emissions from public transport,\u201d said Cameron Rimington, a senior policy officer at the Electric Vehicle Council.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe benefits of electric buses aren\u2019t contained to carbon emissions,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery bus running on Australian-made electricity is a bus that isn\u2019t dependent on the strait of Hormuz, isn\u2019t spewing exhaust<\/a> into our communities, isn\u2019t contributing to lung cancer or childhood asthma, and they\u2019re so much quieter \u2013 for commuters and communities alike.\u201d<\/p>\n

Helen Rowe, the transport lead at Climateworks Centre, said public transport was a critical service, and buses running on electricity were resilient against fuel shocks.<\/p>\n

As well as purchasing vehicles, governments needed to plan for charging infrastructure, she said. In Victoria, bus company Kinetic recently opened a purpose-built depot with overhead charging infrastructure at Preston, in Melbourne\u2019s north, while New South Wales has completed the first of 11 planned electric depot conversions.<\/p>\n

Australia has been slower than other countries to get moving, but the current crisis, rising fuel prices and uncertainty about supply could change the cost-benefit calculation, making e-buses a more attractive option, RMIT University\u2019s Prof Jago Dodson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a simple security point of view, there\u2019s probably a premium to be paid \u2013 to know that no matter what happens outside of Australia, we can still run our bus fleets on electricity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Buses were also flexible, providing a key opportunity<\/a> to respond to the crisis, Dodson said. They filled crucial gaps between fixed-line services and could be rolled out to meet demand and improve coverage in areas that are not currently well-serviced by public transport.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to roll out a rail line quickly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Communities in Melbourne\u2019s west have been campaigning for better bus access and services for years. They want winding and convoluted routes converted to a fast and efficient grid better able to serve local needs such as getting to the shops, school or train station.<\/p>\n

Elyse Cunningham, the sustainable cities community organiser at Friends of the Earth Melbourne, said a lot of people drive simply because there was no other option.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know the government needs to make public transport more accessible as fuel prices go up,\u201d she said. \u201cBuses are the fastest and the cheapest public transport solution that the government can provide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Service improvements could be \u201clife-changing\u201d for people in the west, she said, including many on low incomes or migrant families. The switch to electric would be a bonus, making for a quieter and smoother ride.<\/p>\n

A community-run e-bus pilot in Gippsland, Victoria shows what could be possible, even in regional areas. Since 2024, two mini e-buses \u2013 nicknamed Sandy and Sunny \u2013 have been providing inclusive, local transport for hundreds of passengers in a region where the ability to travel depends on owning a car.<\/p>\n

The volunteer-run service improved wellbeing by reducing social isolation, La Trobe University\u2019s Dr Magda Szypielewicz said.<\/p>\n

For Dodson, the fuel crisis provided additional impetus for change, on top of the need to transition to zero carbon transport.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s hope that we can learn some lessons from this time around,\u201d he said. \u201cActually use this to recognise that we do need to change and that the security of our transport systems is a core national security question.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As diesel climbs past $3 a litre amid fuel security concerns, transport advocates are calling for the rollout…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":565852,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-565851","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-australia","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}