Red buses generate only 3.3% of transport emissions in Santiago: 90% come from private cars and motorcycles
- Within the framework of Earth Day, the Metropolitan Public Transport Directorate released the First Electromobility Report that compiles the economic, environmental and social impact of electric buses in Santiago.
- This year, Red Movilidad will add another 1,800 zero-emission buses to public transport, reaching 68% of the operational fleet.
Santiago, April 22, 2025.- Thanks to the incorporation of “friendly buses” hand in hand with the arrival of electromobility in public transport, the Red Movilidad system is responsible for only 3.3% of CO2 emissions from transport in Santiago, while private cars and motorcycles generate 90%.
These are some of the data contained in the “First Electromobility Report, Santiago de Chile, 2024. Our commitment to carbon neutrality”, which the Metropolitan Public Transport Directorate (DTPM) prepared eight years after the incorporation of the first electric models into the system, and which positions the capital as the city with the most vehicles of this type outside Chinese cities.
An 80% reduction in particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions, a reduction in noise of up to 44% in the Alameda axis, and savings in the consumption of 60 million liters of diesel, were part of the results contained in the document that was presented today within the framework of Earth Day.
“Santiago is the city in the world outside China with the largest fleet of electric buses, and the benefits of betting on this energy source are immense: between 2018 and 2023, there was a saving of more than 60 million liters of diesel, polluting particles in the air were considerably reduced, one of them, equivalent to 2,900 lit wood stoves; But there was also a considerable decrease in noise in the areas where electric buses operate. For this reason, our commitment is to continue promoting electromobility from north to south, also as a way to advance territorial equity. This year, we will add another 1,800 electric machines to Red Movilidad and we have projects well underway for the different regions of the country”, said the Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, Juan Carlos Muñoz
For her part, the Minister of the Environment, Maisa Rojas, indicated that “on this Earth Day, as a Government we reinforce our commitment to face climate change. Our country has the goal of being carbon neutral no later than 2050 and, to achieve this, the contribution of sustainable public transport is essential. This first electromobility report shows the positive impacts of electric buses in Santiago to mitigate greenhouse gases, reduce air pollution in our cities and also noise, improving people’s quality of life.”
There are currently 2,550 electric buses circulating in Santiago, making it the city in the world with the most vehicles of this type outside China. This progress will continue in 2025 with the incorporation of another 1,800 buses of this type, and with which 68% of the operational fleet will be zero-emission.
The director of the DTPM, Paola Tapia Salas, mentioned that “We have put ourselves at the service of a public policy of the State that has transcended three governments, and that today is consolidated in the current Government. Electromobility is here to stay and currently in Santiago we have 2,550 electric buses. The largest fleet outside of China, surpassed only by Beijing and Shenzhen. And by the end of this year we will have 4,406, representing 68% of the total fleet that circulates in the city.”
All the background information on the positive externalities left by electromobility will be presented this Wednesday, April 23, at the Electromobility Seminar 2025, where the economic, environmental and social impact of electric buses in Santiago will be presented and analyzed, an event that will be broadcast on Red Movilidad’s YouTube channel.
