Technology
Bogotá Builds Hydrogen Bus Fleet With Local Production, Leading Latin America
The city's combination of domestic assembly and on-site fuel generation creates a closed-loop system few other capitals match.
How we reported this
Bogotá runs the world's second-largest electric bus fleet outside China, with 1,485 vehicles operating as of 2022. That scale already marks one distinction. Recent steps to produce green hydrogen locally and assemble the city's first hydrogen bus domestically add another layer that global observers track closely.
Hydrogen supply tied directly to transit
Ecopetrol operates a 165 kW PEM electrolyzer in Bogotá that delivers hydrogen at 99.99 percent purity to SITP buses. The unit produces more than 23 tons of H2 each year. In April 2025 the Secretaría Distrital de Movilidad unveiled Colombia's first domestically assembled hydrogen bus, built with a range above 450 km and capacity to carry more than 98,500 passengers annually. These elements connect fuel generation, vehicle assembly and daily service inside the same municipal system.
The approach differs from cities that import fuel or rely on foreign-built prototypes. Bogotá links the electrolyzer output straight to its existing SITP routes, shortening the distance between production and use.
Hybrid and electric additions already cutting emissions
More than 300 hybrid buses have joined the SITP fleet, cutting roughly 20,000 tons of CO2 each year. City plans call for carbon neutrality by 2050, with a 50 percent emissions drop by 2030 against 2020 levels. The hydrogen bus project sits inside that timeline rather than outside it.
Operators now test how the new hydrogen units interact with the established electric and hybrid stock on shared corridors. Data from those routes will shape decisions on scaling the electrolyzer capacity or adding assembly lines.
Transport planners at the Secretaría Distrital de Movilidad continue to monitor fuel costs and maintenance intervals for the hydrogen bus. Those figures will determine whether further units enter service on the same corridors already served by the electric fleet.