Australasian Bus & Coach – July 2019

(^16) ABC July 2019 busnews.com.au
NEARLYSIXMONTHSafterthe
TransMilenio BRT bus network – in
the Columbian capital city Bogotá

• announced ordering more than
  1,400 gas and diesel articulated
  buses from Volvo and Scania, it’s
  now announced a tender to add
  594 electric city buses to its fleet
  by 2020.
  According to The City Paper
  Bogota (www.thecitypaperbogota.
  com) and other local media,
  the major announcement from
  Bogotá’s mayor Enrique Peñalosa
  confirmed the bidding process
  for the purchase of 594 electric
  buses to be incorporated into the
  TransMilenio fleet by next year.
  The bid to upgrade
  the TransMilenio into an
  environmentally friendly mass
  transit system has been in motion
  since 2018 and consists of two
  phases. First will be the initial 594
  electric city buses and the second
  involves, “...other low emission
  technologies to complete a total
  fleet of 2,700 vehicles”.
  It’s claimed after the first phase,
  Bogotá will have the largest

electricbusfleetinLatinAmerica;

a move that should dramatically

improve the city’s air quality.

BID SHORTLIST

The report further outlines that

the TM buses that service Suba

Centro, Fontibón, Perdomo and

Usme will be given priority with

all-electric transportation. It

also cites a list of international

bus manufacturers that have so

far made the short-list for the

Bogotá bid: BYD, Miysui – Caetano,

Siemens, Sunwin, Yutong, Yinlong,

Dongfeng, Sinotruck, Foton, and

Zhongtong.

Further, the TM buses will have

a capacity to transport an average

of 80 passengers with the smaller

SITP Busetón equipped for 50

and Buseta for 40 passengers.

The buses will all be powered in

operation yards and the suppliers

have a concession contract for 15

years, it states.

WHY THAT LIST?

As The City Paper Bogota explains,

during the announcement

Above:

A further 594

electric buses

will be added

to Bogotá’s

fleet by 2020.

Peñalosaremarked that no

manufacturer currently makes

a high-floor electric articulated

bus and, therefore, clean

transportation technologies

will be used for replacing the

outdated SITP system.

María Consuelo Araujo, director

of TransMilenio stressed that as

soon the 594 electric buses are

operating in Bogotá, customer

service will also improve.

Apparently, this issue is very much

at the heart of the commuting

public given that TransMilenio,

according to the Bogota Chamber

of Commerce’s Security and

Perception Index, is considered

by 60 per cent of the public to

be unsafe.

BOGOTÁ ELECTRIC BUS

TENDER ANNOUNCED

“After the first phase,

Bogotá will have the

largest electric bus

fleet in Latin America.”

NEWS