# 10,000 electric buses transform Latin America

> C40 Cities and ZEBRA hit a milestone in replacing diesel buses with electric alternatives across 80 Latin American cities.
- Title: 10,000 electric buses transform Latin America · TIME
- Summary: C40 Cities and ZEBRA hit a milestone in replacing diesel buses with electric alternatives across 80 Latin American cities.
- Keywords: c40 cities, zebra, electric buses, latin america, climate action, thomas maltese, carbon emissions, public transit, TIME
- Source: TIME — https://time.com/collection/time100-climate/2026/thomas-maltese
- Published: 2026-11-09T13:01:07+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: c40 cities, zebra, electric buses, latin america, climate action, thomas maltese, carbon emissions, public transit
## Seven-year push for cleaner buses
Over seven years ago, C40 Cities, a network of mayors dedicated to climate action, launched an initiative to transition Latin America's public bus system away from polluting diesel.
## Ten thousand buses now running
This August, the Zero Emission Bus Rapid-deployment Accelerator, ZEBRA, in partnership with the International Council on Clean Transportation, marked an historic milestone of ten thousand electric buses in operation across eighty Latin American cities.
## Four cities drive emissions cuts
Thomas Maltese leads ZEBRA's work helping Bogotá, Mexico City, Santiago and São Paulo deploy electric buses.
## Key takeaway

ZEBRA and C40 Cities deployed ten thousand electric buses across eighty Latin American cities, avoiding over nine million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.