Portimão now has 40% of the Vai e Vem – Transportes Urbanos fleet electric, and, by 2023, there will be an increase to 70%, announced the City Council on the day that the first ten electric buses will reinforce the fleet.
The vehicles were announced yesterday, 29 August, as the first step “of an ambitious project that in 2023 will be expanded with eight more identical vehicles”, says the municipality of Portimão in a note sent to newsrooms.
In the presentation of the vehicles, Ricardo Afonso, administrator of Sandbus Transportes, the Vai e Vem concessionaire in partnership with Vamus Algarve, highlighted this municipal commitment to energy efficiency, considering it "an honor to start in Portimão, and in a massive way, the introduction of electric vehicles in the Algarve region», for which the company will invest around three million and 600 thousand euros.
Isilda Gomes, mayor of Portimão, praised the company for complying with the rules of the tender and pointed out that
this option is the result of a “paradigm shift in terms of energy, which is extremely important at a time when climate change is the order of the day”.
«From now on, 40% of the Vai e Vem fleet, made up of 26 vehicles, is already electric and when the remaining eight buses come into operation, we will reach 70%, most likely a rare case in Portuguese municipalities», he stressed. the mayor.
In his opinion, «this is a very decisive first step in the fight against climate change, because we have to look after the future and the future involves zero emissions».
In addition to maintaining the current tariff, the new buses have wi-fi and are equipped with a lifting platform for wheelchairs, «following the paradigm shift that we must have in view of the inclusion of citizens with reduced mobility, as we strive for equality between people", said Isilda Gomes.
According to the president, «some routes were adapted, for reasons of rationality of resources and to proactively respond to the various requests received, duly considered in the light of passengers' priorities, but always bearing in mind the needs of the majority».
Comments