Alternative fuel vehicles will represent more than 50 per cent of the 64,000 total transit buses that will be delivered worldwide during 2015, according to a report from Pike Research.
The figure is up from 28 per cent in 2010, with Pike predicting that while the market for diesel buses will remain strong, natural gas buses will grow at an 8.2 per cent compound annual growth rate. Deliveries will increase by 61 per cent to 15,937 vehicles. Meanwhile, worldwide deliveries of hybrid buses will nearly triple from 5,514 in 2010 to 16,328 in 2016; and fuel cell buses, while still rare, will enjoy some modest increases too, reaching 1,083 vehicles by 2016.
According to senior analyst Dave Hurst, transit bus fleets are an important area of focus in the efforts to reduce emissions. While diesel buses will continue to enjoy a long life, alternative fuel vehicles will soon represent the majority of bus deliveries.
The highest penetration is expected to be in the North America and Asia Pacific regions. The latter will have the largest demand for buses to keep pace with growing urban cities and deliveries are expected to grow at a 3.1 per cent compound annual growth rate. Together, the regions will represent nearly 70 per cent of all new bus deliveries during the timeframe.
