Swedish automotive firm Scania will hand over 147 Euro 6-compliant buses, powered exclusively by gas, to the city of Cartagena in Colombia for Bus Rapid Transport (BRT), the country’s maiden urban transport in South America.
Looking forward to setting a benchmark for sustainable transport, Cartagena will also deploy Scania Fleet Management capable of providing real-time data on the fronts of fuel-consumption, routes, service needs and driver behavior, among others.
Featuring the latest in low-emission technology for urban transport, the buses will hit the road sometime during the second half of this year.
Scania Managing Director Benoit Tanguy said: "Scania Euro 6 gas buses are a reality in urban transport in Europe and now it's time for Colombia to take advantage of them.
"Scania will install a workshop at the customers' facilities... They will have all the parts needed to ensure the highest availability of buses. Scania's service technicians will offer maintenance that meets Scania's high technical standards. We are setting a new standard of sustainable transport in the country."
Sotramac and Transambiental have been entrusted with operating the transport project.
While, the former will facilitate the delivery of 58 18-meter gas buses armed with 320 hp engines and a capacity for 160 passengers, Transambiental will obtain 89 12-meter standard gas buses fitted with 280 hp engines.
Sotromac has inked a ten-year maintenance contract with Scania, while such period for a similar pact with Transambiental stands at agreement.
