COLUMBIA Volvo Bus Latin America has sold 688 bus chassis to Colombia’s capital city, Bogotá.
The deal, which includes chassis for conventional buses as well as articulated and biarticulated buses, is the company’s largest ever in Columbia.
The chassis were sold for the third phase expansion of Transmilenio, the continent’s most efficient and advanced BRT system.
Luis Pimenta, president of Volvo Bus Latin America, said: “This deal reaffirms Volvo’s position as main supplier of BRT solutions in Latin America, in particular as a function of the high transportation capacity of our chassis and their low operating costs.”
Bogotá is a metropolis with highly congested traffic including 16,000 passenger minibuses.
“Gradually removing this huge small capacity vehicle fleet reduces the number of traffic accidents and contributes significantly towards improving the quality of the air,” said Euclides Castro, urban bus manager at Volvo Bus Latin America.
The deal includes 48 articulated and 97 biarticulated vehicles which will operate on the main routes of Transmilenio. The remaining 500 plus chassis will be used for low entry buses, operating conventional and feeder routes.
These are the first low floor buses for Bogotá, enabling easier wheelchair access. Specification details have not been announced.
