Our commitment to you - smarter, safer, cleaner, greener, better. Taking bold action to improve our environment by delivering a cleaner, healthier public transport system.
Red bus is going green.
People in the Greater Christchurch area make 320,000 passenger trips each month by bus.
This is inherently good for the environment. It also makes the best use of scarce space on the roads. However, we need to ensure we are doing everything we can to reduce emissions in the fleet.
320,000 passenger trips each month.
We have concentrated on reducing our diesel consumption.
Not only to lower costs, but also to reduce our carbon footprint.
This guarantees that our initiatives become part of our permanent routine and serve to bolster our standing in an environmentally conscious community.
All-electric buses not only reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions, but they also provide the most practical answer to the air quality in cities of the future.
We need 1.9 million litres of diesel each year for our 145 buses.
We have purchased 3 all-electric buses for the 29 route.
These vehicles alone will take 283 tonnes of CO2 and other harmful pollutants out of the atmosphere, will have zero exhaust emissions and reduce energy by one third used by a diesel bus.
We have focused on the procurement of an environmentally friendly bus fleet and are actively addressing other areas of energy consumption in our business operations.
We are planning to build greener office and workshop facilities.
These will have lighting to the most modern energy-efficient standards, with meters recording water and electricity consumption.
This will enable us to see spikes in usage, which may indicate leaking pipes or wasteful energy use. Campaigns will run to encourage employees to avoid waste and to recycle, which will reduce our energy consumption and contribute to a reduction in our CO2 each year.
Our green approach includes our drivers.
All our vehicles are equipped with on-board communications and have real-time GPS tracking, and a bus performance and monitoring system known as Telematics.
This tool monitors the drivers’ braking, acceleration, speed, passenger ride comfort, and excessive idling. This results in improved passenger experiences, reduced fuel consumption and reduced wear and tear on the vehicle as a whole.
Through the application of Telematics, smaller buses, and other business improvements Red Bus has been able to reduce its carbon footprint per kilometre by 9.9% since 2015.
Red Bus has been able to reduce its carbon footprint per kilometre by 9.9% since 2015.
Petrol vs Hybrid vs Electric on Route 29.
Our new electric buses are currently running on Route 29 between the bus interchange and the airport. These two graphs compare a typical petrol-powered small and medium-sized vehicle, a hybrid Prius and an electric bus for their carbon footprint and their energy consumption per one way trip. An electric car would have a similar reduction when compared with the petrol-powered small vehicle.
The carbon footprint reduction between petrol car and the electric bus is primarily a function of the high level of renewable energy available via New Zealand's electricity network.
The threefold reduction in energy for an electric bus reflects the high efficiency of electric motors and battery systems compared with the inefficiency of an internal combustion engine.
Our electric buses
Find out more about our electric buses, and where they are running.
Power talk with The Crusaders.
See what some of The Crusaders rugby team think of electric power!
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