Electric buses in Sydney, Los Angeles and London are expanding at very different speeds

Electric buses in Sydney, Los Angeles and London expand through the same process

Electric buses in Sydney, Los Angeles and London are all expanding the same way. A state or city transit agency orders new buses in batches, converts a bus depot, the garage where buses are stored and charged, to run chargers instead of diesel pumps, and sets a date for when the last diesel bus leaves the fleet. The difference between the 3 cities is not whether that mechanism is running, it is how far each 1 has gotten through it. The transit regulator in London counts 2,937 electric buses in a citywide fleet of 8,982 buses, close to a third of every bus in the city. Sydney runs more than 220 electric buses today, with 921 more bought since the state government changed in March 2023, and a stated target of 1,700 by the end of 2028. Los Angeles Metro runs 95 electric buses, 4.5% of a fleet of about 2,050 buses, a number the agency gave a reporter rather than disputed.

London already runs close to a third of the fleet electric

The Bus Fleet Audit published by Transport for London, read directly from the published document, breaks the citywide count down by bus type and shows the gap is uneven. 40.8% of the single deck buses in London run electric, against 30% of the double deck buses, the larger vehicles that carry more passengers on the busiest routes. The audit also credits London with 20 hydrogen fuel cell buses, bringing the total zero emission count, meaning buses that run on a battery or a hydrogen fuel cell instead of diesel, to 2,957 buses, 32.92% of the whole fleet. Go Ahead Group runs the single biggest slice of that fleet, 2,433 buses, 27.09% of every bus in London. Alexander Dennis, the bus manufacturer, delivered 13 electric buses to Go Ahead London in 2026 for a single route between Crystal Palace and Clapham, 1 order among many that make up that citywide count.

Sydney is building the depots to catch up

New South Wales, the state that includes Sydney, is converting 11 bus depots to run chargers and has set transition dates for its diesel and gas fleet, more than 8,000 buses statewide. Greater Sydney reaches full transition by 2035, the outer metropolitan area by 2040, and regional New South Wales by 2047. The 921 buses bought or ordered since the state government changed in March 2023 sit well above the 220 electric buses running today, and still below the 1,700 target set for the end of 2028.

John Graham, the state transport minister, described the pace of buying in these words.

This latest investment in new buses has us on an express route to 1000 new buses since Labor came to government.

John Graham, state transport minister for New South Wales. Source 2.

Los Angeles Metro and critics agree on the count, not the pace

The official target at Los Angeles Metro is 100% electric buses by 2035, moved back from an original 2030 date the board set in 2017. Division 9 is due to electrify in 2026, and Divisions 18 and 7 in 2028. The Los Angeles County Electric Truck and Bus Coalition and Earthjustice, an environmental law organization, argue that pace will not reach even 50% electric by the time Los Angeles hosts the 2028 Olympic Games, a demand the 2 groups make, not a Metro target.

Candice Youngblood, a senior attorney at Earthjustice, put the stakes in these words.

Buses are so important because they are really the people's vehicles.

Candice Youngblood, senior attorney at Earthjustice, an environmental law organization. Source 3.

The dispute in Los Angeles is not about the count of 95 buses itself, Metro and the critics use the same number. It is about whether the pace behind that number is fast enough before the Games arrive.