California Will Require City Buses To Be Electric Only By 2040

California is once again leading the charge in adopting a more environmentally friendly policy. After mandating solar panels for new developments not too long ago, the state has now decided to make it mandatory for all city buses to be fully electric by 2040. Mass transit agencies in California will be required to purchase electric buses only starting in 2029 and all public transit routes have to be populated by those buses alone come 2040.

The timeline gives these agencies ample space to acquire thousands of new electric buses so that they adhere to the new policy. It’s expected that more than 14,000 new buses will have to be purchased to comply with the policy.

The California Air and Resource Board has unanimously voted to make this the first state to make electric buses mandatory. The decision followers several years of CARB’s work with public health groups. This new Innovative Clean Transit rule is going to replace all of California’s public buses which largely run on diesel or natural gas to electric or hydrogen fuel cells.

California would thus have a significant number of electric buses plying its roads. However, there are cities elsewhere that have already built up a massive fleet of zero emission buses. China’s Shenzhen city currently has the world’s largest fleet of over 10,000 fully electric buses.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Transportation
Tags: california, electric vehicles