I really enjoyed speaking at the Clean Buses in MENA conference in Dubai on 7th and 8th February 2023 which was organised by Global Mass Transit. It was an insightful conference with a variety of views on the future of clean buses. For me there were 3 key takeaways.

1. Net Zero targets were mentioned frequently but the road map to achieving net zero is still a work in progress. Clean buses can be battery electric, fuel cell or another technology but there is no model of what the correct answer looks like. For me I think battery electric is the technology with the most momentum and Shenzen Bus have shared some very useful lessons on their journey.
2. Weather conditions play a large part in efficiency which can be a challenge for countries in the Middle East and there was an impassioned debate from both manufacturers and operators as to the correct answer.
3. It was refreshing to hear contributions from Ethiopia and Delhi Metro, granted the latter is not a bus company. Addis Abba outlined the importance of support from a political level to increase bus use to grow the economy but safety is a key concern. While Delhi Metro became the first metro in the world to be certified to provide carbon credits by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) allowing them to raise money to cover costs of operating. Interesting given the public sector challenges post COVID-19 and changes in ridership patterns.

My slides on optimising procurement for electric buses can be found in the downloads section and thanks again to Global Mass Transit for the conference.