The City of Cape Town is planning to introduce biofuel and electric buses in the future to deal with gas emission in the city. By Staff Writer
Currently, 97% of public transport across the world operates on diesel, contributing to pollution and climate change.
Worldwide there are 1,3 million deaths due to traffic accidents annually and a further 3,1 million deaths from particle emissions – meaning one out of eight deaths is related to poor air quality.
Biofuel, such as biogas or biodiesel, is produced from renewable resources: plant biomass, vegetable oils or treated municipal and industrial waste – the latter of which cities around the world can put to good use.
According to the latest research, buses operating on electricity or gas can also cover more distance than a bus with a diesel engine for the same amount of energy.
“When we rolled out the first MyCiTi bus routes in May 2010, we could never have imagined that the service would be growing at such a pace. We are now transporting nearly 59 184 passengers every weekday and the MyCiTi buses have become such an integral part of Cape Town that one can hardly imagine our city without them. On average, the MyCiTi buses cover a distance of over 1 270 000 kilometres each month,” says the City’s Mayoral Committee Member: Transport for Cape Town, Councillor Brett Herron.
“As we intend on growing our MyCiTi footprint with the roll-out of more routes across the city, it is imperative that we investigate cleaner and alternative fuels for our buses. An added benefit of electric buses is the fact that they operate almost silently, which will also help to cut back on noise pollution.”
MyCiti is Cape Town’s bus-based transit system that delivers fast, comfortable and cost effective urban mobility with segregated right-of-way infrastructure.
