The big downside of electric buses. I'm living it every day

The Herald Scotland

2 days ago

But the real killer with all public policy is the unintended consequence, the one thing that the advisors and the spads didn't think of sitting around a table making the policy up and composing press releases and tweets. In the case of free travel for under-22s, it was the increase in anti-social behaviour it caused, because some young people realised pretty quickly that they could hang around on buses or head into town without it costing them anything and in many cases it hasn't ended well. As I say: unintended consequences.
A bit harder to spot are the unintended consequences of the green buses themselves because, compared to diesel, they reduce carbon emissions and help to improve air quality. It's why the Scottish Government – still committed, you'll remember, to reach net zero by 2045 – has paid out £100million to bus firms to help them buy electric buses and put in all the associated gubbins and infrastructure. The money is paid through the awkwardly named ScotZEB (Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund) – the first payment was £62m in 2022, the second £41m last year. Added to the £222m spent on the under-22 travel scheme over two years, it adds up to a lot of cash being spent on funding buses and funding people to travel on them, the idea being that we'll all benefit in the end.
But here's where the other unintended consequences kick in. As well as helping to improve air quality, which they do, the other thing we were told about electric buses was that they would be much quieter than the rattly, spewy diesels and that all those fleets of electric buses gliding past with a gentle hum would lead to not only cleaner streets but quieter streets as well. Living on a busy bus route can be noisy obviously, but electric buses, they said, would help reduce the noise, the stress associated with it, and even lead to a better night's sleep for people living in towns and cities.
But I can tell you now that's not how it's panned out. Undoubtedly, the old diesel buses, with their engines rattling and exhaust pipes rasping, could be noisy and unpleasant machines, but I've lived on a busy bus route in Glasgow for more than 30 years and never noticed the old diesel vehicles from inside the house. To be honest, I didn't really give them a second thought.
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With the electric buses, however, it's completely different. The batteries make the vehicles between 10 and 30% heavier than diesels, meaning they're cleaner yes but quieter no. I'm not the only one in our Victorian block of flats who's noticed the thump and rattle and bang of the heavy electric buses going past or pulling up at the bus-stop outside. In some cases, the whole building shakes, the vibrations running up from the road, into the walls and through the floor. We never had this problem with the diesels.
It's particularly bad when the buses hit the cracks and potholes and you know Glasgow: there are a lot of cracks and potholes. It's also creating a bit of a downward spiral: the roads were in a terrible state before electric buses became common, but the heavy vehicles are making it worse because they're harder wearing on the roads. And so the electric buses thump noisily into the cracks and potholes and make the cracks and potholes worse which increases the noise and down we go.
The scale of the issue was laid out in a report by researchers at Edinburgh University entitled 'Hidden cost of road maintenance due to the increased weight of battery and hydrogen trucks and buses – a perspective' (I could have come up with a catchier title for them but never mind). What they concluded was that a complete conversion of the existing vehicle fleet to battery electric vehicles was likely to increase annual road wear in Scotland by around 20-40%. More alarmingly, they also concluded that the cash spent on maintaining the existing condition of the roads would need to increase by around £164million per year if all large vehicles transitioned to battery electricity.
John Swinney announcing more funding for electric buses (Image: Newsquest)
This does not make for a pleasant future (or a quieter one). It's possible, of course, that new lighter battery technology will be developed in time, but in the meantime the significant increase in the wear and tear on the roads, according to the Edinburgh University report and according to common sense, will lead to increased maintenance costs and potentially the need to construct new roads to a higher standard. The report points out that even the current levels of maintenance are inadequate to sustain the state of the roads and that if it continues the same way, the greater demands made by heavier electric buses and trucks will lead to an even faster deterioration. Take a look at the roads and imagine it.
All of this means that the Scottish Government is effectively shovelling millions into a scheme that will cost it millions. On the face of it, what they're doing is subsidising quieter, greener public transport. But it's public transport that's making the condition of the roads worse which will require increased maintenance and repair – a cost that the Government will have to pick up.
I'm not suggesting, by the way, that Nicola Sturgeon, posing happily with a charging cable, or anyone else, knew that the buses they loved so much would in fact be noisier and land the taxpayer with a big bill for road repairs. But I am suggesting that now we know that's the case, we start to come up with a plan. For the sake of our finances. For the sake of our roads. And for the sake of my peace and quiet.