00:00The arrival of Transport Canberra's first Aussie-built electric bus was announced with
00:07fanfare in October 2023.
00:09It will be joined by three buses before the end of the year that have been delivered to
00:14us by Custom Denning.
00:16But those buses didn't go into service until June last year, and even then, they could
00:21only service short routes.
00:23Because the range wasn't meeting the specified range that the supplier had set out.
00:29They've now been taken back off the road to be returned to their Sydney-based manufacturer
00:34to try and fix the problems.
00:36It's in the interest of the supplier in this case to make sure that these buses are meeting
00:40the technical specifications.
00:41They'll be taken off the road for a few weeks and some improvements will be made to their
00:46performance.
00:47The buses were leased as part of a May 2023 commitment to acquire 106 zero-emissions buses
00:53over three years, and at the October election, Labor committed to purchasing 110 more electric
00:59buses over the next four years.
01:02Transport Canberra has 41 electric buses from Chinese manufacturer Yutong, with another
01:0749 on the way.
01:09Industry experts say, despite reports of some technical issues, Australian bus builders
01:14will be able to compete with foreign suppliers as nationwide demand for zero-emissions public
01:19transport grows.
01:21We shouldn't forget how regularly diesel buses break down either, and how part and parcel
01:27of running any sort of bus fleet that we need to sort of manage some of those repair and
01:33maintenance issues as a bold standard.
01:37In light of the chaotic launch of the MyWay Plus public transport ticket system in November,
01:43the opposition says government procurement needs closer scrutiny.
01:46I think it's just one thing after the other.
01:49There is definitely transparency issues with the government, especially when it comes to
01:53transport.
01:54We've seen that with MyWay Plus.
01:56Now the buses, it's a problem across the board for this minister.
02:00The minister says he has confidence in the procurement processes, with the search for
02:04a supplier for the buses promised at the election to begin after the June ACT budget.
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