For our latest Fleet News Group podcast, NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchison talks about environmental practices in bus transport, and the importance of regional hubs like her electorate of Maitland in economic development.
“We’ve got a transition plan to ensure that all buses across the state transition by 2047,” said Aitchison, talking about the NSW Government fleet of 8000 buses moving to electric and hydrogen power. She said they have a target to have transitioned 50 percent of the state’s bus fleet to lower emissions technology by 2030.
“There’s a lot of really interesting technology behind that,” she said, adding that “even the whole way that we make buses now is probably going to be changed into the future.”
Aitchison said current trials are set to determine if certain buses — say those used for school runs — can be built to have less range and smaller batteries rather than follow standard platforms of diesel powered buses that might have a much larger range.
To be sure, there are other considerations, including whether certain buses may be used for vehicle to grid charging particularly in regional and remote areas and be better equipped for that task if they have larger and heavier batteries.
“There’s a lot of things to consider,” said Aitchison.
Meanwhile, in June, the NSW Government handed down its budget contains some $3.3 billion over four years for disaster mitigation and recovery, including repairing of roads damaged by years of flooding rains.
“And to put it in perspective, we probably spent under $800 million over the last four years on disaster recovery as a state. So it’s really lifting up the amount of money that’s available to restore those roads and transport networks, which is really important and something that we’ve been really focused on as the government.”
She also highlighted funding towards building public charging networks, saying, “We really want to encourage people to look at electric vehicles.”
Aitchison also talks about trials of new road pavement materials, using more sustainable aggregates that include waste materials such as glass and plastic to improve flood resistance and to cope with heavier payloads.
The minister discusses the importance of balancing safety and durability in road construction, with ongoing trials across the state.
Before politics, Aitchison was a businesswoman and an advocate for improving environmental practice in the transport industry. She was a coach operator and a pioneer in using carbon offsets in Australia.
