The Issue of Bus Fleet Renewal in Terms of Increasing the Share of Clean Vehicles: A Case Study for Slovakia

Abstract

The renewal of the vehicle fleet with environmentally friendly buses that constitute urban public transport within an urban territory, or a proportion of the transport within the territory of cities and municipalities as part of suburban public passenger transport, can make a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gas and environmental pollutant emissions from transport. As part of the research, we dealt with the research question as to whether the application of the Act on the Promotion of Clean Vehicles (EU (European Union) Directive 2019/1161) will significantly increase the share of environmentally friendly buses by 2032 in the Slovak Republic (SR). The paradox of the application of the new legislation in the Slovak Republic is that, in public transport, the renewal of the vehicle fleet has significantly reduced, and will further reduce, the negative impacts of vehicle operation, but nothing will change significantly in suburban bus transport while a substantial part of the lines start and end at bus stations in city centres and a number of lines are for short distances, which can be operated by electric buses. Thus, the percentage of environmentally friendly automobiles in the Slovak Republic in urban bus transport will increase significantly. In suburban bus transport, we propose to change the legislation of the Slovak Republic in order to partially start increasing the share of environmentally friendly vehicles. Another follow-up research question was whether gross domestic product (GDP) per capita influences the increased share of environmentally friendly buses in the European countries studied. Based on the correlation measure, there is a significant connection between GDP per capita and the proportion of eco-friendly buses in certain nations. In areas with higher GDP, or in more advanced regions, there is a larger percentage of environmentally sustainable buses. The largest share of environmentally friendly buses is in the Nordic countries of Europe, at 13.44%.