Paris Goes Green, Places Order For 800 Electric Buses To Tackle Smog Before 2024 Olympics

With China showing the world the kind of impact that electric buses can have on the environment, Paris has now followed suit in a major way. As per the recent announcement by the Paris¡¯ public transport operator, the capital city has ordered 800 new electric buses to replace the diesel ones.

The order comes as the biggest ever in Europe, in an attempt to fight the rising level of smog in the city. The move is also crucial as Paris will be hosting the 2024 Olympics in July-August 2024. City transport operator RATP mentions that the fight against smog has picked up pace for the reason.

(Representative Image: Reuters)

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As per RATP, three firms have won the tender to supply the electric buses, namely Heuliez Bus, Bollore and Alstom. The deal amounts to a total of ¡°up to 400 million euros¡± ($450 million), making it the biggest bus purchase of its kind in Europe. RATP also confirmed that it will be buying about an equal number of buses from each of the suppliers. The plan is to buy 150 electric buses first, with their deliveries expected ¡°between the end of 2020 and 2022.¡±

As of now, only one of the Paris bus lines uses all-electric buses. Barring that, the city has 950 hybrid-powered buses, 140 bio-fuel buses and 83 electric buses in its fleet. The ultimate goal that the city is aiming for is to have 100 percent ¡°clean buses¡± by 2025. That includes electric as well as biofuel buses. Paris has also pledged to buy only all-electric buses 2025 onward.

Representative Image: Reuters

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This is a major step towards tackling the vehicular emissions in any major city in the world. A recent report revealed that electric buses largely overshadow the contribution of other electric vehicles in the fight against emissions. It mentioned that a total of 500 barrels of diesel are displaced each day for every 1000 electric buses on the road. In comparison, only 15 barrels are displaced through the same number of electric passenger vehicles.

So as the major cities around the globe start appointing electric buses in their transportation fleet, it will only turn out to be beneficial in the fight against the rising environmental pollution.