481 buses from the new Transmilenio fleet will be supplied with natural gas from the year 2019. This was announced by the President of the Colombian Association of Natural Gas (Naturgas), Orlando Cabrales Segovia, who said that “betting on a cleaner and more efficient transport system will help improve the quality of the air in Bogotá.”
The winning bidder said, “This is just the beginning of a cleaner national public transport system that helps improve the city’s air quality. We hope that the health of the citizens will continue to be a priority in the upcoming fleet renovations and tenders in other bus routes.
Similarly, the President of the drivers Union highlighted that in the country “there are already around 700 dedicated natural gas buses in operation, and this tender will continue to grow the number of clean buses.” In this sense, cities such as Medellín, Cartagena, Manizales and Palmira have also opted for the change from diesel fuel to natural gas for public transport.
According to Naturgas, “using natural gas vehicles has decreases close to 100% of fine particulate matter, higher than 75% of nitrogen oxides and between 20-30% of carbon dioxide, compared to those generated by diesel-powered vehicles”.
The Union also highlighted the contribution of the young environmentalists, academics and the mayor of Bogotá, who “helped to educate on the environmental and transportation needs of the capital.”
The mayor of Bogotá, Enrique Peñalosa, highlighted the award of the new buses, where 40% of the fleet will operate with Euro VI gas technology.