February 17, 2020. The mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, has confirmed the entry into operation of 99 new buses for TransMilenio powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) and stressed that the renewal of the system fleet is improving the quality of the City air and user comfort.
“Thanks to a large investment, which comes from the taxes of each of the citizens, we are buying 1,441 new buses less polluting that will allow, when they enter in their entirety, reduce by 95% the pollution that reaches our lungs,” López said.
For her part, the Secretary of Environment, Carolina Urrutia, said: “the new gas buses reduce emissions of particulate matter by 99% and the euro V with filter decrease by 95%, which gives the possibility to citizens of have a better air in the city.”
Currently, TransMilenio vehicles contribute 1.8% to emissions of particulate matter from mobile sources and with the entry of the new fleet this will decrease to 0.4%.
The mayor of Bogotá stressed that, in addition to environmental benefits, this new fleet that is coming to the system, provides greater comfort to users. “More buses are entering than we are taking; the goal is to replace 1,162 with the entry of 1,441. In addition, the units are larger, this will improve user comfort by 41% with 160,000 additional seats,” she said.
60% of buses that are entering gradually are bi-articulated, have a capacity for 250 people, while an articulate has capacity for only 160 passengers.
With the entry of this new fleet, TransMilenio is renovating 70% of its automotive fleet for the first time, also allowing an improvement in the frequency of routes in the system.
