17 November 2023: Missed the show? Listen back here.
The Zero Emission Bus (ZEB) project in Seymour is midway through its 3 years trial, and it is turning heads. And not just Seymour heads seeing quiet buses that don’t spend their idling time at bus stops spewing out diesel fumes.
This regional bus trial is a forerunner for the Zero Emission Bus transition mandated for Victoria after 2025 as part of our State’s developments to meet our emissions targets of 28-33% emissions reduction by 2025, to 45-50% reduction by 2030, and net zero by 2050.
What is a Zero Emission Bus? ZEBs provide a cleaner and greener way to travel on public transport. Unlike diesel buses, ZEBs don’t release carbon emissions or pollutants into the air. Instead, ZEBs use electric batteries or hydrogen fuel-cell technology to power the bus.
The ZEB project has the all of the Seymour town bus routes, 5 of them, being serviced by large electric buses. They have few passengers, but they represent regional Victoria’s biggest EV bus trial. And the buses are pretty special.
Andrew Chan is General Manager of Sita Holdings that own Seymour Passenger Services, Kastoria Bus Lines and Broadmeadows Bus Services, and he is a very enthusiastic advocate for the trial. “This is regional Victorias biggest EV bus service, and for Seymour there is no going back. For us, this is a transition to a cleaner and cheaper bus future, and it will grow and grow” says Andrew.
The Seymour ZEB project was officially launched on 25 October in Seymour. You can watch a short video of the event here.
Victoria’s commitment to transition its entire diesel bus fleet to ZEBs from 2025 will benefit all Victorians. Andrew Chan will help explain why.
Tune in to Peter Lockyer and Tim Budge (who owns an EV and keen to share his experiences) on EarthChat and you can listen to the ebullient Andrew Chan sharing his thoughts on this exciting local development.
EarthChat, on 103.9 FM on Fridays at 10am. Always a good yarn to listen to.
Tune in to BEAM's radio program EarthChat each Friday on Seymour FM at 10am, repeated at 8am Saturday.
Return to this page for a link to the podcast after the program.