Germany Bremer Straßenbahn AG (BSAG) has taken delivery of the first of 33 Mercedes-benz Citaro G articulated buses.
These buses continue the company’s introduction of a procurement scheme where they form part of a sustainability programme aimed at continually optimising environmentally safe technology and working methods across all of the business units of BSAG.
BSAG Technical Director, Wilfried Eisenberg, said: “BSAG considers itself an integral part of the solution to air and climate protection problems which exist in Bremen. Our role also includes providing a sustainable and modern public local transport service.”
Thanks to a target-oriented environmental protection policy and sustainability programme, over the past 10 years the company has reduced fine particle and CO2 emissions significantly. For BSAG’s bus fleet, the implementation of environmental targets has meant ongoing modernisation with environmentally friendly drive systems. All of the 33 Citaros are 18.1m long, new-generation articulated buses and meet EEV (Enhanced Environmentally friendly Vehicle) emissions standard – which is around 30% lower for particulate emissions than Euro 5, without any increase in fuel consumption.
BSAG specified its new fleet with a host of safety features, including a complete interior monitoring system comprising six interior cameras and a reversing camera. In order to continue the bright, friendly appearance of the passenger compartment BSAG opted for translucent expansion bellows and also “brightened up” this section with additional LED illumination. The lighting concept includes illumination of the entrances and exits as standard, as well as indirect illumination of the outer ceiling flaps by means of multi-dimensional ceiling light lenses. In the front and rear sections of the bus, two 19-inch TFT monitors keep the passengers informed about the current location and the next stop information which is triggered via GPS and relays relevant information to passenger displays and to information panels at bus stops – where waiting passengers are kept informed about precise arrival and departure times in real-time. The same IBIS computer is also responsible for influencing traffic light signalling systems.
BSAG has continually reduced its environmental impact over the last 10 years. Fine particle emissions have fallen by 2/3, water consumption by 1/4 and in 2007 each passenger accounted for an average CO2 output of just 88.3 g/km. With some 343 vehicles, trams and buses and almost 2000 employees. Around 280,000 people use the network of local bus services in and around Bremen on a daily basis.
