The manufacturer has now delivered over 3,600 buses to Latin-American BRT schemes
BRAZIL Volvo Buses in Latin America has delivered 124 articulated buses to Rio de Janeiro’s BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system.
The vehicles operate on Transcarioca, a new BRT corridor which opened in June.
Luis Carlos Pimenta, President of Volvo Bus Latin America, said: “The BRT system of Rio de Janeiro is an example which shows that investing in an organised, busbased public transport system is well worth it.
“It increases efficiency of urban transportation, with higher average speeds and shorter displacement times, in addition to the implementation being cheaper and faster.”
Transcarioca is a new line in Rio de Janeiro’s BRT-system. It is 39km (24 miles) long and links the Galeão airport to the district of Barra da Tijuca. The corridor is the first to cross the city transversally and is expected to benefit around 450,000 passengers a day.
The Volvo buses are B340Ms. The artics, which are bodied by Neobus and Marcopolo, are 21m long and can carry 180 passengers.
All buses are equipped with automatic gearbox, disk brakes and EBS, an electronic brake control system which offers higher efficiency and stability when braking.
“These are items that ensure security for the operation, comfort for passengers and reduced operating costs, fundamental features for quality public transport,” said Euclides Castro, Volvo Bus Latin America Urban Bus Manager.
Another advantage of the vehicles is the intelligent acceleration control, a Volvo exclusive feature which ensures that only the necessary power is deployed on startups and speed alteration according to the weight of the vehicle.
To date, Volvo has delivered more than 3,600 buses to the BRT-systems of Curitiba, Bogotá, Guatemala City, Mexico City, Santiago de Chile and San Salvador.
