[NEWS] Hybrid buses in Bucharest

A new improvement in Bucharest public transport – the first hybrid buses batch was received

In order to contribute to the decrease of CO2 emissions and to improve the air quality in the Bucharest-Ilfov area, the City Hall announces a new important initiative: the first batch of eight Mercedes-Benz Citaro Hybrid buses was put in service on a metropolitan line, starting with July 7th, 2020. The new buses will transit the central area of the Capital and will go to one of the largest shopping centre in the metropolitan area – Băneasa, in the Northern part of the city.

The newly purchased buses are equipped with specially designed functions for people with disabilities, air conditioning, USB sockets for the fast charging of mobile devices, as well as a high-performance computer system that allows the sharing of travel information to passengers in real time. Moreover, these offer many benefits: high efficiency, low weight, inexpensive to purchase, unproblematic for drivers, eight years full warranty, lasting up to 480.000 km and a total capacity of 100 passengers.

According to the acquisition schedule, by January 2021 a total of 130 buses will be put into use. The total value of the purchase is 40 million Euros, financed by the Environmental Fund Administration through the “Program to improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions using less polluting vehicles in local public passenger transport”. This is a part of a set of 9 projects submitted by the City Hall which aims to reduce GHG emissions, by modernizing public transport, as was mentioned by e-MOPOLI Bucharest team, in one of the project activities deliverables - regional context analysis.

The purpose of the programme is to improve the air quality and to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions, as a result of using less polluting vehicles in the public transport. Through such measures, the public authorities in our region contribute to the development of sustainable mobility, with low greenhouse gas emissions, in accordance with European policies in the field.