Analysing the implications of electrification of public transport buses in Pune city, India

The urban road transport sector in India currently faces the challenge of increased travel demand, increased use of private vehicles, traffic congestion as well as alarming levels of air pollution. The consequent public health problems, energy insecurity resulting from oil imports and pressure to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from the sector have also emerged as serious challenges for the country. Many cities in the world are considering electric buses for public transport as one of the potential solutions to address these issues. This article analyses the feasibility of introducing electric buses in the public transport fleet by estimating the financial burden that such a shift may entail, and the corresponding emissions it would mitigate. It also provides a methodology and illustrates the same for a city in India. The results indicate that while electric buses may not be financially viable at present and require state support and subsidies for operation, careful planning and phased implementation would make them a promising option for the future. The cost analysis indicates that for the immediate future, the replacement of air-conditioned diesel buses with similar electric buses in the fleet makes better economic sense. However, it is necessary to determine how the increased cost of using electric buses is to be distributed across the population of the city to avoid disproportionately burdening one section, i.e. bus commuters, with the cost of cleaning up the city’s air.