Happy Birthday to Our Hybrid Buses

Celebrating our Eco-friendly hybrid bus fleet on their first birthday

This month we celebrate the 1^st birthday of our eco-friendly hybrid bus fleet that were officially launched at Wyndham depot on 26 June 2019.

The fleet of 33 Hybrid buses has since been servicing CDC’s metropolitan routes from Wyndham, Sunshine and Oakleigh depot on a wide variety of routes.

We are also so proud that our 1-year-old Eco-friendly fleet is still the largest fleet of hybrids in Australia to date and demonstrates our strong focus on sustainability in our business operations.

The introduction of these buses marks an important innovation for Victoria’s public transport network, delivering significant reductions in emissions, noise and fuel consumption as well as improving the passenger experience.

We asked two of our drivers for their opinion on the hybrids since they are the ones who know them best.

Goran Stankovic said, “I’ve been driving these hybrids over the last year and it is a very smooth driver overall. The buses are also very comfortable for passengers and they seem to love it.”

Steve Benson said, “The Hybrids are a really great vehicle to driver. I drove the demo one we had years ago and I’m so impressed at the improvements of this new generation hybrid. The bus is so much quieter, saves fuel and the environment and the drivers seat is much more comfortable on long drives.”

It is also reassuring to note that we’ve received lots of positive feedback from passengers including a few phone calls telling us to check our buses. The callers actually thought that there was something wrong with the buses as the engines kept shutting off. Needless to say, they were pleasantly surprised when we clarified that the bus wasn’t “spoilt”, they were actually our new eco-friendly hybrids.

Here’s what some passengers had to say about the hybrid fleet

“It’s a smooth bus and of course good for the environment. I think other companies should join the trend and get hybrids!” – David Paluska

“Loving the hybrid buses, much quieter, more comfortable and healthier for passengers and planet. The lack of idle at the interchanges is a great outcome for the air quality and noise at these locations.” – Rob Brimblecombe

“I was pleasantly surprised while being on a hybrid bus because I could have a decent conversation with my friend without having to shout. These buses are extremely quiet and a pleasure to ride on. Good job CDC for considering the earth while providing a smooth ride to work and back.” – Jenny Bloom:

Our current fleet of 33 buses has saved us over 25 percent of fuel. Not only does this equate to a huge cost saving but it means less harmful carbon emissions are released into the air. Over the last 1 year, our eco-friendly hybrids have decreased our CO2 output by 280,000 kilograms.

This infographic shows our CO2 savings over the last year – something that we believe will only improve even more with time.