Curse Sydney's buses if you will, for their meandering routes and their (kinda reliable) lateness, but they're the only mode of transport that connects many parts of the city to others. For example, if you're heading beachside this summer without a car, chances are that you'll be relying on those publicly subsidised wheels for a cool dip.
Now, the NSW government has proposed a major sustainable switch for the city's entire fleet of buses: they're all set to be electric by 2030.
Andrew Constance, the NSW minister for transport, made the announcement earlier in December, saying that the rollout would mark the first step in the state's transition to zero-emission transport. Five buses have already been trialled (four of them in the Inner West) over the last 18 months in Sydney, and after positive feedback from drivers and passengers, the state government is looking to roll out the first major lot in 2021. Thirty buses will hit the ground in the first quarter of the year, while another 20 are set to follow. The buses are able to run for 15 hours from a single charge.
A year on from the horrific bushfires of last summer, we're ready to see a modern, clean-energy-run public transport system, that's for sure.