Clean technology buses are already deployed on a large scale in the USA, Europe and China. Technologies are mature and alternative business models have been successfully implemented. According to the Zero Emission Urban Bus System (ZEUS), there are around 173,000 hybrid or electric buses operating worldwide. Despite these good experiences around the world, political support for the decarbonisation of bus systems, and the significant potential market volume, the adoption of clean bus options have been limited in Latin America.
Bogotá, Medellín, Asunción, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, San José, San Salvador, Nassau, Bridgetown or Santiago are examples of cities in Latin America that will renew their fleet in the next 3-5 years. The window of opportunity is open to exploring innovative business models and financial incentives to increase the penetration of clean technologies in these cities. If clean technologies are not integrated, cities with high-emission buses could remain in the city for the life of these vehicles (10-12 years).
The objective of this project was to study alternatives and design financing strategies and mechanisms for the acquisition and incorporation of electric buses in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Medellin (Colombia).
BASE carried out evaluations of the possible opportunities to incorporate clean technologies in public transport and develop a profitability analysis of currently used buses (e.g. diesel, gas) from the most relevant service line for the target cities, as well as a profitability analysis of clean technologies that could be used to replace current technologies by means of cost-benefit studies. Based on the local context, BASE analysed alternatives to boost the financing of clean technology fleet and designed a financing mechanism in greater detail.
