Within the next 10 years, the government plans to replace every second bus in the public transport system of Hungarian cities with low- and zero-emission ones in the framework of its Green Bus program. The first pilot project of the programme starts in September.
At the beginning of the year, the government committed itself to support the procurement of environmentally friendly buses, which can contribute to mitigating air pollution in cities. As part of this commitment, from 2022 all the new buses put into operation in settlements with a population over 25,000 must be electric. Over the programme period of ten years, the budget for this will be 36 billion forints (100 million euros).
The first pilot project of the Green Bus program was launched this week in the city of Debrecen in the Eastern part of the country. In the first phase of the project, the city put into operation one fully electric bus that passengers can take free of charge for a month. Then in the next phase of the program, the government will support the purchase of the first electric buses in the city’s fleet with 800 million forints (2,2 million euros).
“In Hungary, the transport sector is accounting for 20 per cent of all CO2 emissions and road transport is responsible for 98 per cent of these emissions,” highlighted Péter Kaderják, Minister of State for Energy and Climate Policy.
He reminded that Hungary has set the goal to climate neutrality by 2050. The government considers the Green Bus program an important step in delivering on this commitment.
The government also aims to increase the wider availability and use of affordable electric cars. In May, a tender with a budget of 5 billion forints (14 million euros) was launched by the government to support the purchase of purely electric cars.
