Feature image for illustrative purposes.
The City of Cape Town, in partnership with the University of Cape Town (UCT), will begin testing electric buses as part of new research aimed at understanding how the vehicles could operate within the City’s MyCiTi bus fleet, reports Cape {town} Etc.
The research will be conducted by the City’s Urban Mobility Directorate together with UCT and will assess the feasibility, operational impact and cost implications of introducing electric buses into Cape Town’s public transport system.
The project is funded by the City, along with a €90 000 grant from the Urban Electric Mobility Initiative (UEMI), following approval by the Mayoral Committee earlier this week. The agreement will be implemented through the eBRT2030 Consortium, UEMI’s implementing agent.
According to the City, the research phase will involve up to four 12-metre electric buses that will be deployed across various MyCiTi routes. The first bus is expected to arrive in the first quarter of the new financial year, subject to final arrangements.
The buses will be tested over a period of approximately 12 months to evaluate performance across different route profiles, battery life, charging times and impact of factors such as passenger loads and climate conditions. The research will also examine maintenance and operational costs, with international experience indicating that operating costs for electric buses can be reduced by as much as 70%.
City’s MMC for Urban Mobility, Councillor Rob Quintas, said the pilot phase was essential before committing to a full rollout.
‘The research is critical as we need to understand how the electric buses will perform in our local context, and what challenges we need to take into account before we roll-out the e-bus fleet in 2027,’ said Quintas.
He added that the findings would support planning around logistics, driver training, maintenance requirements, passenger demand and fault reporting.
‘All over the world, countries undertake a pilot before they roll-out their e-fleet. UCT is our partner in this. They will lead the feasibility study and research components of the eBRT2030 project, as well as the additional monitoring and evaluation,’ said Quintas.
The City will sign the grant agreement with UEMI, which is funded by the European Union under its Horizon Europe programme. The research project is expected to run until at least December 2026, with a possible extension to June 2027, subject to approval.
If the pilot is successful, the City plans to roll out electric buses along MyCiTi routes operating in the metro-south east, including new Phase 2A routes. The first electric buses are expected to begin operating from 1 July 2027, transporting passengers between Mitchell’s Plain and Khayelitsha, Wynberg and Claremont, as well as the Cape Town CBD.
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