A consortium of Keolis, Autocars Dominique, and BE Green has won the contract to operate a 100% electric bus route serving Paris’ 15th arrondissement. The contract runs for 59 months, and begins on 1 February 2020, the date from which bus routes in Paris will be opened up to competition. The route connects the Pasteur Institute in the north with Georges Brassens park in the south, via the town hall of the 15th arrondissement, schools and the multimedia library. Running seven days a week throughout the year, the 22-passenger capacity electric minibuses serving the route are accessible to people with reduced mobility and equipped with on-board defibrillators.
Keolis will be responsible for deploying dynamic passenger information, which will include, among other things, e-paper passenger information points featuring electronic ink (with very low energy consumption) which provide comprehensive passenger information in real time.
An app will allow passengers to identify the next services at the closest stop, and to visualise the approaching vehicle on a map. Passengers will also be able to subscribe to network alerts and messages received via the app’s messaging system.
Commenting on the service, Youenn Dupuis, Deputy CEO of Keolis Île-de-France said, “Keolis, Autocars Dominique and BE Green will be working hand-in-hand with the City of Paris and the inhabitants of Paris’ 15th arrondissement to improve everyday mobility. As the sector in the Paris Île-de-France region opens to competition, this opportunity to deploy Keolis’ savoir-faire in the heart of Paris is another step on the way to becoming a key mobility actor in and around Paris.”
Keolis in Île-de-France operates 250 bus routes, along with two networks reserved for people with reduced mobility, one tram line, and has a fleet of 1,900 vehicles.
