Costa Rica will inaugurate its first public route with electric buses

By ICE

This is a machine translation of the original press release issued in Spanish

This Thursday, November 10, the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE) and Pulmitan (Caribbean Group), announced an agreement that will allow the country to have its first public transport route supported by electric buses and renewable energy from the national matrix.

The activity was attended by Rodrigo Chaves, President of the Republic; Luis Amador, Minister of Public Works and Transportation, and Marco Acuña, President of Grupo ICE. The chosen route connects the central district of Liberia with the Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport.

The road – strategic for tourism and the economy of the province – totals 30.75 kilometers in both directions. It was chosen because it presents conditions that allow monitoring the performance of the three available electrical units. After the signing, ICE officials will train the Pulmitan team to start the operation this month. During an extension of the agreement, the buses would be used on other routes of the same company.

“The country is moving towards the use of renewable technologies in order to comply with the Agenda 2030. This is why the use of electric buses as a means of transport on tourist routes is doubly beneficial for the country. Through this public-private alliance between ICE and Pulmitan, we are going to further promote the image of Costa Rica as an example of a green and sustainable country,” said the president.

For his part, the head of Grupo ICE indicated “that the savings of an electric bus when compared to one that runs on fuel can reach up to 86%. This means that working with an electric unit is almost a fifth of the cost of using diesel or gasoline, to which is added the environmental benefit”.

Finally, Jorge Solano, representative of Grupo Caribeños, added that “we have had the idea of using these buses for quite some time. We are a company that likes to innovate and provide comfort to our users. We are sure that this is a very important step for the company and the country.”

With the signing, Costa Rica will become the second country in Central America to use electric buses commercially. During a pilot plan executed in the GAM in previous months, a 98% reduction in emissions was recorded when comparing the electric units with those that move with diesel.