Transit & Delivery Vehicles
Transit and delivery vehicles include public transit buses, school buses, package delivery trucks, small construction or contractor trucks, and similar vehicles.
Public transit buses and school buses already help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by moving many people at once. Buses can be even more efficient if they use engines that run on lower emission fuels like electricity, propane, compressed natural gas or renewable diesel. Lower emission fuels produce less greenhouse emissions than their fossil fuel counterparts.
Delivery vehicles can also benefit from engines that use lower emission fuels. The number of delivery vehicles on our roads has skyrocketed since the COVID-19 pandemic due to the rise of online shopping and delivery apps. If most of those vehicles use engines powered by lower emission fuels, that can help reduce emissions long term.
More efficient engines that run on gasoline or diesel will be important for transit and delivery vehicles, too. It may take more than a decade to fully transition to electric vehicles. In the meantime, maximizing efficiency of gas and diesel vehicles, combined with lower emission fuels is needed. Renewable diesel, is a promising drop-in replacement fuel while these vehicles are still operating.
Many transit and delivery vehicles have an advantage over other types of similar vehicles: They typically “return home” to the same location overnight, like a bus or fleet depot. This makes them more viable for electrification because they can easily recharge overnight when not in use.
Transit and delivery vehicles: emissions reduction vision
By 2035, 90% of urban transit vehicles in Oregon will use engines powered by electricity or lower-emission fuels.
By 2035, 40% of smaller delivery and commercial vehicles will use electricity or lower emission fuels. Nearly all by 2050.
How Oregon is doing
Oregon’s lower emission transit fleets
The Oregon Department of Transportation tracks the “health” of the statewide public transit fleet via their State of Good Repair data. Buses have a “useful life” window and should be replaced to ensure they are operating at their full performance and are cost effective.
When it’s time to replace a vehicle, transit agencies and delivery companies can reduce emissions by purchasing electric or hybrid vehicles. But this is only one part of a complex and expensive process to transition their entire fleet over several years. ODOT provides information and tools to support transit fleet electrification.
Oregon’s transit providers reported more than 3 million miles of passenger service delivered by electric vehicles between July 2025 and July 2026.
As of 2026, several public transit agencies throughout the state are using buses that run on lower emission fuels.
Portland, Eugene and Salem are running electric buses for passenger service.
Grants Pass and Corvallis are running trials of electric buses and exploring ways to improve their charging infrastructure.
Several other agencies are investigating transitioning their fleets to battery electric and hybrid vehicles.
Transit agencies are also increasingly using renewable diesel to lower emissions from vehicle fleets in the near term. (See the Lower Emission Fuels page)
Electric delivery vehicles
Electric delivery vehicles are beginning to operate in some cities, saving fuel costs and making neighborhoods healthier with less noise and pollution. New grants administered by Oregon Department of Environmental Quality will help that transition. Ride hailing vehicles are also shifting to hybrid and electric faster than personal vehicles, reaping cost savings.
State regulations
The DEQ is helping on the regulation and purchasing side, too. The 2021 Advanced Clean Trucks rule requires increasing percentages of zero emissions vehicles, such as delivery vehicles to be sold in the state. However, the rule is currently under legal challenge. Multiple related grant and incentive programs from DEQ provide opportunities to fund deployment of those vehicles with Oregon fleets.
Shifting to electric buses and delivery trucks will take some time, especially for routes that require vehicles to travel long distances between refueling.
How Oregon can improve
In 2022 DEQ studied opportunities for transit and delivery vehicle fleets to transition to lower emission fuels. The study identified three key barriers to transition: Limited access to fueling infrastructure, high vehicle costs, and vehicle range concerns.
Based on the study’s findings, state government can help in several ways:
Establish statewide technical assistance to assist commercial and public medium- and heavy-duty fleets in transitioning to electric vehicles. One example is the new Oregon Electric Fleet Network, a collaborative forum designed to connect fleet operators with each other and state agencies to address the practical challenges associated with shifting to electric vehicles. (See Long Haul Truck page for more details)
Provide technical assistance and act as an education and training resource for transit and delivery agencies that are transitioning their fleets to vehicles powered by lower emission fuels. Build on existing resources like the ODOT and DEQ Fleet Electrification Guide.
Help transit agencies apply for grant opportunities to offset the cost of vehicles and increase access to fueling infrastructure. ODOT coordinates federal and state transit funding opportunities.
Provide continued stable funding for DEQ programs that incentivize and assist fleet owners in the transition to lower emission fuel vehicles, like the Diesel Emissions Mitigation Program, Zero Emissions Rebates for Oregon Fleets Program, Zero Emissions Fueling Program, and related incentives from some electric utilities.
Like passenger vehicles, miles driven by delivery vehicles also respond to price signals. Efforts to shift these fleets into the road user charge or weight mile programs, can also reduce emissions. (See the Road Cost Recovery page for more information)
Delivery companies can also transition their local operations to low or no emission modes. For example, electric bicycles are better suited for delivering smaller packages in dense urban areas. They produce no emissions and cut down on temporary parking and traffic congestion caused by bigger delivery vehicles. (See our Efficient Industry Operations page)
While we wait for vehicle fleets to electrify, renewable diesel provides a promising drop in replacement fuel to bridge that transition given current diesel fleets. (See our Lower Emission Fuels page)