Government road map towards zero emission bus fleet a win for the CBD

The state government is continuing to ramp up Victoria’s transition to a zero-emission bus (ZEB) fleet across its metropolitan network, which is good news for air quality in Melbourne’s CBD.

In November, the government announced its road map “to transform Victoria’s diesel bus fleet towards zero emissions”, with the plan designed to help guide how the state’s diesel fleet would be “progressively phased out”.

From mid-2025, new buses ordered for the public fleet will be required to be zero emission – with almost 690 ZEB buses already funded through the government’s $20 million ZEB trial and current contracts with bus operators. 

While it is not clear how many new EV buses will be seen travelling through the CBD and when, CBD News understands the new contracts place conditions on operators to deploy new vehicles along some of the network’s busiest routes.

These conditions likely impact many routes which travel along the notorious Lonsdale St – which has previously been flagged as one of the most problematic bus corridors in the city.

As previously reported by CBD News, the City of Melbourne said that replacing harmful diesel buses that ran along Lonsdale St with electric alternatives would be a “significant step” to reducing CBD air pollution.

Several routes travelling along Queen St have already seen more ZEBs deployed in recent years.

The council has previously stressed the urgency for more clean buses to be rolled out along Lonsdale St, which accounts for more than 1000 bus movements each day, serving 16 routes.

Lord Mayor Nick Reece said the council was working to reduce its own operational emissions as well as advocating to the state government for cleaner transport options.

“70 per cent of council’s fleet is now electric or hybrid, and we are always looking for ways to further cut emissions across our subsidiaries and service contracts,” Cr Reece said.

“While public transport vehicle procurement is a matter for the Victorian Government, we will continue to advocate for a transition to renewable electric power.”  

We continue to call on the Victorian Government to prioritise the switch to electric buses, especially in the central city where there’s a high volume of vehicles.

The council’s environment portfolio head Cr Davydd Griffiths added that, “with a growing population, it's vital we have world-leading electric public transport on our streets to ensure Australia meet its obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement.” 

The ZEB Transition Plan will see some operators begin the switch immediately to ZEBs, led by the larger operators in Melbourne and large regional centres, with many smaller operators – especially in regional areas – taking a more gradual approach.

The new Metropolitan Zero Emission (MZE) Bus Franchises covers a third of the metropolitan bus fleet and will see 600 existing diesel buses replaced with new zero emission battery electric buses by 2035 – saving an estimated 45,000 tonnes of emissions annually.

Given the success of the MZE process, the government says a similar process may be followed for the replacement of buses for the remaining 40 per cent of the metropolitan bus network with contracts that will end in 2028.

“We’re converting Victoria’s entire public bus fleet to be quieter and more comfortable for passengers while at the same time slashing emissions,” Minister for Public and Active Transport Gabrielle Williams said.

“We are working with the bus industry to ensure the ZEB transition not only improves the customer experience, but also boosts local manufacturing, creating even more local jobs.”

The state government also confirmed that the metropolitan bus network’s transition to zero emission vehicles wouldn’t be impacted amid recent reports suggesting that some new electric bus orders would be put on hold.

A Department of Transport and Planning spokesperson said that a phased approach would ensure that diesel buses were replaced, and depots converted in an efficient, timely way to achieve a full transition to ZEB operations across the network.

The government said it was still working towards establishing a zero-emission bus network across the state by 2045.