BYD and Bogotá’s mass transport authority TransMilenio have struck a deal to provide the Colombian capital city with one of the largest electric bus fleets in the world.
Some 379 electric buses will commence operations from September 2020 in the Integrated Public Transportation System (SITP), with the towns of Usme and Fontibón among the first to receive the vehicles.
This order sets the record for the largest electric bus order in the Americas, following BYD’s delivery of 183 electric buses to Chile in August 2019.
It is estimated that in its first year of operation, Bogotá’s electrified fleet will eliminate 21,900 tonnes of CO2 and 526kg of PM 2.5 pollutant particles.
These buses will also be 60% cheaper to operate compared to conventional diesel-powered buses.
María Consuelo Araujo, general manager of TransMilenio, said: “With the arrival of zero-emission electric buses to the SITP, we have fulfilled a dream that this administration had proposed, and for which we worked hard, to give the city a better public transport service, with technology that’s both state-of-the-art and user-friendly.”
