Now TUMI is expanding its E-Bus Mission to a larger learning network of cities across India, Indonesia, Africa, and Latin America – the first of its kind in the Global South
Often referred to as the “greenest city in the world,” Curitiba, Brazil, has long been held as a model for urban sustainability due to its green space, recycling programs, environmental education – and especially its extensive system of dedicated-lane bus rapid transit.
But what of the buses themselves? As of 2020, only 4 percent of Curitiba’s buses were hybrid and none were electric. The city wants to move one-third of its buses to electric by 2030 and completely decarbonize its fleet by 2050 — and it is receiving strategic planning and technical assistance from the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI) E-Bus Mission.
Developed from the Action towards Climate-friendly Transport Initiative launched at the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit, the TUMI E-Bus Mission supports 20 deep dive cities, including Curitiba, in their transition to electric bus deployment. These cities – all in the Global South – were chosen based on readiness, potential for GHG mitigation, and sphere of influence.
Expanding to a broad learning network
Now TUMI is expanding its E-Bus Mission to a larger learning network of cities across India, Indonesia, Africa, and Latin America – the first of its kind in the Global South. Through the TUMI E-Bus City Network, co-led by ICLEI and the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), member cities benefit from shared knowledge and resources, exchanging both best practices and lessons learned while seeking to accelerate the transition to e-bus fleets.
The TUMI E-Bus Mission is aiming for 100 network cities by 2022 and 500 by 2025. The initiative is a peer-to-peer exchange as well as capacity building for cities at different stages of procurement to plan and implement electric buses. While the 20 deep-dive cities already have concrete goals to electrify their bus fleets over the next few years, network cities can learn from the experiences of the deep dive cities in setting and implementing goals of their own.
Photo [Left to right] Rohan Modi, advisor for Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ); Tu My Tran, Head of Sustainable Mobility, ICLEI World Secretariat; and Philip Turner, Head of Sustainable Development at International Association of Public Transport (UITP),
