Electric buses grow in sampled European cities, but conventional fleets remain widespread

DW reported on 12 October 2026 that electric buses made up 20% of the combined bus fleet in the EU capitals and selected European cities it examined, while traditional vehicles still formed a majority in 20 of the 31 cities with bus data. Its analysis offers residents a measure of fleet changes, but limited city pollution data leave their local air-quality effects unresolved.

The number of electric buses in DW’s dataset rose by 1,234, or 55%, between 2021 and 2025. The increase and the continued prevalence of traditional buses describe the cities for which researchers obtained information; the sample is not a census of all urban public transport in Europe.

How electric bus fleets differ between European cities

Copenhagen was the only EU capital in the analysis with an almost fully electric bus fleet, DW reported; one bus there runs on biomethane. More than 90% of buses in Rome, Lisbon and Nicosia still ran on diesel. Those contrasts show the limits of using the sample-wide electric share to describe any individual city.

The researchers emphasised fleet size because it was more available and comparable across cities than distance travelled. Counting vehicles shows the composition of a fleet, but does not establish how far its buses travel or how many passengers ride them. An electric bus share therefore cannot be read as the share of all bus journeys made on electric vehicles.

Which cities have pledged zero-emission public transport

The project record says some pledge information came from EU mobility observatory material and sustainable mobility plan reports. Researchers also used a semantic search engine to locate some commitments. They gathered transport, pledge and pollution information from city councils, transport authorities and operators through public websites and reports, as well as email and phone requests.

What DW’s city data can and cannot measure

The project gathered city data spanning 2010 to 2026 and analysed data from 2016 to 2026. Its published results focus on buses, trams and metros. The project record reports more than 1,200 collected data points and more than 700 analysed. Availability varied across cities and measures, a constraint when comparing their progress.

Some underlying points came from existing collections: eight transport points from an International Association of Public Transport report, and 56 transport points and eight pollution points from CDP datasets developed with ICLEI. These documented inputs add to the available city information, but the uneven coverage still limits what can be concluded for Europe as a whole.

Pollution evidence was especially sparse. The project found public transport pollution data for only 17 cities, and just one supplied air-pollution data. Its fleet figures cannot establish that replacing buses has already improved air quality or health in a particular city. They also do not provide a uniform calculation of the environmental impact of each city’s vehicles.

How bus electrification fits the wider EU emissions picture

The European Environment Agency’s 2025 assessment puts transport at almost a third of total EU greenhouse-gas emissions in 2023. It says passenger cars account for around 72% of European transport activity measured in passenger kilometres, while public transport’s share of total passenger travel has changed very little. Cleaner bus fleets address one part of that broader transport picture.

The agency also reports that emissions of most major transport air pollutants fell by between 47% and 90% from 1990 to 2023, with ammonia and nitrous oxide as exceptions. It credits policy measures and technological development, including tighter road-emission standards. Those Europe-wide trends cannot establish the local effects of the fleet changes in DW’s city sample.

Michela Le Pira, an assistant professor quoted by DW, said removing tailpipe emissions may be an easy strategy to improve public transport. DW also notes that electricity and fuel production and vehicle construction contribute to environmental impact. The balance can differ between places, and the city analysis does not quantify a single net benefit applicable to every fleet.

Transport & Environment data analyst Martin Baierl told DW that electric buses are one way to reduce local air pollution and that cities where fewer people need cars are more liveable. The new analysis documents vehicles and stated commitments; its limited pollution data and vehicle-count method leave measured local outcomes and changes in travel behaviour as open questions.