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Purpose: The purpose of the article is to determine and compare Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) metrics of buses operating in public transportation system depending on their powertrain. TCO is widely used method supporting decision making in purchases, taking into account all operational and extraordinary costs of delivery, operations, maintenance and liquidation of an asset in its lifecycle. It will provide answer to the question of sustainability of the business in the time horizon reflecting economic life on an asset, in this case – the vehicle. Design/methodology/approach: Main methods used in the paper are critical literature review concerning TCO models and its application for rolling stock, case study research conducted in the Upper Silesian and Zagłębie Metropolis aimed at collection of financial data. Gathered figures were used to develop comparative calculations of TCO for electric (EV) and fuel cell (FCEV) buses. Findings: In course of the research and analyses it was confirmed that the Total Cost of Ownership of the EV is significantly lower, comparing to FCEV, and only political decisions and significant public support of investments in FCEV buses may equalize TCO values for both types of powertrain. Sensitivity of TCO calculated against fuel and electricity prices is very low, and such depreciation of hydrogen fuel is very unlikely to take place. Research limitations/implications: Data gathered for EVs are real life, as carriers have long term experience in their use, whereas the data for FCEVs comes primarily from test drives and road tests carried out by the suppliers and carriers. Practical implications: Development of hydrogen technology still requires massive public financial support, otherwise the costs of bus operations with this type of powertrain is uncompetitive comparing to battery (EV) powertrain. Decarbonisation of the economy is then highly dependent on political priorities, since the businesses may not demonstrate sufficient interest in participation in this process, primarily due to higher costs and lack of attractive incentives. Originality/value: Originality of this approach results from rather infrequent use of this method, comparing to other, i.e. NPV. Use of TCO may facilitate decision making process as it does not require differential approach, comparing to NPV, however, for comparing different possible choices, such comparison of values may be also applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]