While driving your car around seems very convenient, the costs of regularly driving to and from a single destination add up very quickly. Not only that, high car usage increases our reliance on fossil fuels and carbon emissions, which have a huge impact on our environment.
There’s a good chance using public transport can help save you money, as well as helping the environment. The Adelaide Metro savings estimator can work out how much you could save by making the switch to public transport instead of driving your car.
There are roughly 800,000 people living in Adelaide between the ages of 18 and 65. Nearly 40% of these people drive alone to their work or study. That's a lot of cars and a lot of emissions.
Even a bus at 30% of its capacity is more efficient than the 20 cars it replaces.
South Australia’s public transport system is taking another step forward to providing an efficient, effective and greener public transport system.
Twelve new Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) trains consisting of 36 railcars will join the Adelaide Metro train fleet over the next 12 months.
This increases the number of electric railcars in the fleet from 66 to 102 and will enable fully electric operations on the Seaford, Flinders and Gawler train lines.
The new EMUs will be custom fitted for the Adelaide Metro fleet by Alstom, a locally represented company engaged to provide maintenance services to the metropolitan train operator, Keolis Downer.
This work will result in seven new full time jobs and two apprenticeships.
The EMUs operate quieter than diesel trains, reducing noise impact to residents along rail corridors, and use recovery energy during braking meaning more energy efficient vehicles.
The new EMUs will be introduced into service progressively from early 2022.
We currently own and manage a fleet of 70 diesel railcars, with 45 of these to be upgraded with hybrid energy storage and recovery systems aimed at reducing the fleet’s fuel consumption, noise, vibration and diesel emissions.
These hybrid energy systems will enable excess energy to be recovered when the train is braking, to be stored in batteries for later use.
This will result in improved reliability and reduced operating costs of up to 20%, plus a more attractive service for passengers by eliminating diesel fumes when trains are sitting undercover at Adelaide Railway Station.
Once upgraded, these 45 diesel trains will be the only diesel vehicles required for service.
Further investment has been put towards 20 new buses, including 17 hybrid electric buses and three new articulated diesel buses which will be supplied by contractor Scania Australia and bodied locally by South Australian business Bustech.
These hybrid-electric buses can reduced emission by up to 92%, especially when stopping to pick up or set down passengers or when travelling in silent mode on battery power.
The first three hybrid buses are already in service with the remainder to be in service by the end of January 2022, ready for the start of the school year.
Adelaide Metro trams play a major role in offering passengers a safe and comfortable journey with a low ecological footprint.
Trams are identified as one of the greenest urban transport modes, with Adelaide’s Flexity and Citadis trams designed to reduce ground noise and vibration to enhance mobility for all customers, while being optimised for energy efficiency with reduced CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions.
To add to this, Flexity trams are 98% recyclable with 98% of the material used to construct them also coming from recycled sources.