Electric buses will cost less than diesel ones, Minister tells MPs
A new fleet of electric buses will cost less than half the price of older diesel vehicles, the transport minister told the House of Assembly yesterday morning.
Lawrence Scott said 30 buses, built by the Golden Dragon Bus Company in China at a cost of $114,000 each, were due to arrive on the island next spring.
Mr Scott said: “By comparison, the last diesel bus purchased from Portugal in 2018 cost $250,000.”
Mr Scott revealed that a special service for people in wheelchairs would be outlined in February, as the new buses were not wheelchair accessible.
He said the initial request for proposal for the new buses was aimed at transitioning the entire bus fleet to electric power over ten years.
Susan Jackson, the shadow transport minister, asked if Golden Dragon had been contracted for the ten-year replacement of the bus fleet with electric vehicles.
But Mr Scott said future supply of electric buses would be made through separate contracts.
UPDATE: This story has been amended to reflect that the cost of the electric buses will not total $4.3 million
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