The rapid growth of electric buses in the fleet
The highest urban public transport ridership in China is by bus or trolley bus, at about 49 billion in 2021. This was followed by 27 billion taxi passengers and around 24 billion metro/subway riders. During the year, about 709,400 buses and trolleybuses were in operation in urban China. The proportion of public transport vehicles available to citizens has been steadily increasing from only 3.6 units per 10,000 inhabitants in 1995 to about 13 units per 10,000 residents in 2020.China has been promoting a clean and green public transportation system by increasing the number of electric vehicles in its fleet and related infrastructure. The share of all-electric buses in the fleet has skyrocketed over the past six years, from just 15.6 percent in 2016 to 59.1 percent in 2021. The total number of purely electricity-powered buses amounted to approximately 419,500 units that year.
