Canberra’s electric bus fleet is under scrutiny with several vehicles being send back to the manufacturer to fix ongoing technical issues. Despite that the ACT government says the fleet is reliable and it is pushing ahead with a commitment to buy another 200 electric buses over the next few years.
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00:00The arrival of Transport Canberra's first Aussie-built electric bus was announced with
00:07fanfare in October 2023.
00:09It will be joined by three buses before the end of the year that have been delivered to
00:14us by Custom Denning.
00:16But those buses didn't go into service until June last year, and even then, they could
00:21only service short routes.
00:23Because the range wasn't meeting the specified range that the supplier had set out.
00:29They've now been taken back off the road to be returned to their Sydney-based manufacturer
00:34to try and fix the problems.
00:36It's in the interest of the supplier in this case to make sure that these buses are meeting
00:40the technical specifications.
00:41They'll be taken off the road for a few weeks and some improvements will be made to their
00:46performance.
00:47The buses were leased as part of a May 2023 commitment to acquire 106 zero-emissions buses
00:53over three years, and at the October election, Labor committed to purchasing 110 more electric
00:59buses over the next four years.
01:02Transport Canberra has 41 electric buses from Chinese manufacturer Yutong, with another
01:0749 on the way.
01:09Industry experts say, despite reports of some technical issues, Australian bus builders
01:14will be able to compete with foreign suppliers as nationwide demand for zero-emissions public
01:19transport grows.
01:21We shouldn't forget how regularly diesel buses break down either, and how part and parcel
01:27of running any sort of bus fleet that we need to sort of manage some of those repair and
01:33maintenance issues as a bold standard.
01:37In light of the chaotic launch of the MyWay Plus public transport ticket system in November,
01:43the opposition says government procurement needs closer scrutiny.
01:46I think it's just one thing after the other.
01:49There is definitely transparency issues with the government, especially when it comes to
01:53transport.
01:54We've seen that with MyWay Plus.
01:56Now the buses, it's a problem across the board for this minister.
02:00The minister says he has confidence in the procurement processes, with the search for
02:04a supplier for the buses promised at the election to begin after the June ACT budget.