UITP, IRU, ACEA urge EU to exclude Class II Low-Entry buses from urban bus definition in new CO2 emission targets

UITP, IRU, ACEA urge EU to exclude Class II Low-Entry buses from urban bus definition in new CO2 emission targets

UITP, IRU and ACEA call legislators to remove Class II low-entry buses from the urban bus definition included in the new CO2 emission targets proposed by EU Commission earlier this year, that would imply also diesel low entry buses to be banned from 2030.

In our new position paper, UITP reviews the promising state of clean bus deployment and the remaining challenges that need to be addressed.

UITP concerned by new timeline

The key point, already underlined by UITP Senior European Policy Expert Lucie Petersen during a Sustainable Bus Tour VideoSpotlight in mid-April, is that “under the Clean Vehicles Directive, the procurement targets for clean and zero-emission buses only applied to Class I and Class A buses. These exclusively urban buses are at the forefront of efforts to transition to low-carbon alternatives. However, the proposed Regulation extends the definition of urban buses to include Class II buses with low entry, which are often used for longer distance public transportation, both regional and interurban, and remain harder to decarbonise. These vehicles were not previously covered by any procurement targets, meaning the ambition level would go from 0 to 100 in a single step”.

UITP “is concerned about the proposed timeline of the zero-emission target for new urban buses. Its success does not only hinge on whether manufacturers can produce enough zero-emission buses, but also on whether the framework conditions allow the public transport sector to buy only these vehicles from 2030 onwards”.