Volvo Buses

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Volvo to sell the world’s longest bus to Bogota

Volvo Buses has received an order for 50 articulated buses for one of the largest and most efficient bus-based transport systems, Transmilenio, in Colombia’s capital city Bogota. Ten of the buses will be the longest type of bus in the world – Volvo’s bi-articulated bus – at 27.2 meters long.
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The Transmilenio BRT system has been a resounding success, particularly in terms of its effect on the environment in Bogota. At present, 1.6 million passengers are rapidly and conveniently transported each day on the buses in the system thanks to exclusive bus lanes and bus stops designed to facilitate rapid boarding and disembarking.

As a result of the use of articulated buses with high passenger capacity, it has been possible to remove a large number of smaller buses from the streets. Combined with the decision by many of the city’s inhabitants to leave their cars at home and instead take the bus, this has led to a 59-percent reduction in exhaust fumes from traffic. This has resulted in Transmilenio receiving approval from the United Nations to sell carbon dioxide emission rights.

Volvo’s articulated buses comprise a large portion of the buses in Transmilenio – some 560 of them. As well as an additional 40 articulated buses on order, the Volvo B12MA, the BRT system is now taking a further step by purchasing for the first time ten bi-articulated buses, also of the Volvo B12MA model.

At 27.2 meters, the bi-articulated bus is the longest in the world with a capacity to transport 240 passengers. Bi-articulated buses increase capacity in the transport system without needing to increase the number of buses.

The chassis are built in Volvo’s plant in Curitiba, Brazil, and the bodies are manufactured by Superpolo in Colombia, which is a subsidiary of the body builder Marcopolo. The customer is Ciudad Movil, one of the operators in Transmilenio.

All of the buses will be delivered during August and September. The first five bi-articulated buses were delivered in mid-August. The sixth of these buses will be delivered in September and this is a special occasion, since it will be the first bus fitted with a Euro IV engine to enter service in South America. Euro IV engines will not be mandatory in the BRT system in Colombia until January 2010.

August 12, 2009

For further information, please contact Per-Martin Johansson, press officer, +46 31 322 52 00, per-martin.johansson@volvo.com