How are Urban Bus Fleets Performing in Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions? The Australian Experience

Abstract

The transport sector is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Although the bus operator is a small player in the emissions stakes, the entire life cycle emissions from the manufacture of buses and diesel fuel is a significant contributor to CO2.The consequences of the move from manual to automatic buses is that we are seeing a noticeable increase in emissions, even though automatic transmissions are themselves becoming increasingly more environmentally friendly. This paper reviews the evidence in Australia based on a 1998 survey of over 1400 buses. The challenge is to find ways of reducing CO2 emissions of automatic buses as they replace manual buses in similar operational contexts without increasing the amount of emissions.