In 2023 the fleet of electric buses in the Metropolitan Region will double

PRESS RELEASE from Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez

October 15, 2022

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

• In a discussion, held at the Adolfo Ibáñez University, the director of the Metropolitan Public Transport Directory (DTPM), Paola Tapia, stated that, in 2023, Chile will have around 1,900 electric buses.

“The pandemic radically changed the way people get around. There is a new drop in the use of public transport and it seems that people are using private transport more and more. As a university we want to work collaboratively to address some of these issues through research. We believe that Chile and the country need it”, said the rector of the Adolfo Ibáñez University, Harald Beyer, in his welcoming remarks at the Public Transport 2035: A sustainable path discussion, carried out jointly by the Faculty of Engineering and Sciences UAI ( FIC) and the Directory of Metropolitan Public Transport (DTPM).

In the instance, Paola Tapia, director of the DTPM, thanked the university for its commitment and reiterated the importance of generating research in relation to the sustainability of public transport.

In this sense, he also added that an effort has been made to improve the user experience in transport, and that by next year "we will have 1,900 electric buses circulating, versus the 800 that currently exist" and that it is part of the plan to create sustainable transport.

After the presentation by the director of DTPM, a discussion panel was held with the participation of Diego Silva, manager of strategy and contractual management of DTPM; Camila Balbontin, doctor in transport and economics and professor at the FIC, and Eduardo Bitran, director of Innovation at UAI Engineering.

A sustainable path for public transport

At the discussion table, different topics were presented that would be important when proposing sustainable public transport, according to the exhibitors.

Camila Balbontin mentioned that one of these aspects is “making people, and ourselves, use more sustainable modes of transportation. Try to encourage the use of bicycles or walking, which not only contributes to society, but also to the health of people and the mobility of countries” .

On the other hand, Eduardo Bitran highlighted the benefits of the new regulation model for public transport in Santiago "the separation of the ownership of the bus fleet, from its operation, allows better regulation of the quality of service provided by the operators, facilitating the replacement of those that do not meet the minimum standards and at the same time more easily renew the buses incorporating sustainability objectives”

From a government perspective, Diego Silva said that it is important to increase the fleet of electric buses, since " beyond the experience of users on these buses, they reduce pollution, noise, and also the work of drivers is becoming more dignified. " , such as, for example, the best conditions they have to work or to better manage the blind spots' of the micros”.