Santiago's electric bus fleet exceeds 2,000 units

By Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications of Chile

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

An important advance in terms of electromobility was announced by the Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, Juan Carlos Muñoz, who reported that currently 31% of the bus fleet of the Red system corresponds to electric buses, and today Santiago already has 2,000 of these buses.

Minister Muñoz highlighted that currently 2 out of 3 buses are of a high standard, reporting less acoustic and environmental pollution to drivers, passengers and the city of Santiago, also valuing that the incorporation of these buses has been done with an emphasis on equity territorial, reaching different communes.

“This fleet modernization is a continuous process and for this reason, we continue to incorporate electric buses into the system. Today we want to tell you that 31% of our fleet has electric buses and with this we consolidate ourselves with something that makes us proud and that places Santiago as the city outside of China with the largest number of this type of units. Beyond the number, the important thing is that this modernization translates into less pollution, less noise and advantages such as universal accessibility, Wi-Fi, USB connection and security cameras. In summary, better travel quality”, indicated the Minister of Transport and Telecommunications.

Along with the announcement of electric bus 2,000 in the RED system, the MTT authorities reported the operation of electroterminal number 23 in Santiago. This is located in the Peñalolén commune, belongs to the STP company and is the terminal with the highest power in the system and 100% electric, where 184 electric buses operate for 13 services that cover the eastern part of the capital.

Paola Tapia, director of the Metropolitan Public Transport, maintained that electromobility is here to stay in the country, and proof of this is that "today we are at the electroterminal number 23, next to the mountain range, also demonstrating that the buses of the Red system can reach everywhere. None of this would be possible without the public-private association and the work carried out by the workers of the Mobility Network system, whose number currently reaches 18,900 driving personnel, of whom more than 1,400 are women".

For his part, the general manager of COPEC, Arturo Natho, said that as a company "we want to promote sustainable mobility and add its benefits to the service of people on the move, wherever they are and when they need it. To fulfill this commitment, at Copec we are energizing 50% of the 2,000 electric buses that the capital's public transportation system currently has. In this way, we contribute not only to the mobility of people but also to improve their quality of life, by reducing the levels of air and noise pollution, contributing to the public-private alliance that works for this key transformation for the future of all the Chileans".

Diego Muñoz, STU Operations Manager, indicated that the company is committed to electromobility, "and proof of this is that this is our third electroterminal and almost 60% of our fleet is electric, which is a huge challenge, which we have I was able to move forward thanks to all our collaborators".

The Mobility Network system currently has about 6,500 buses operating on the streets, of which 4,260 buses are of high standard, among which are the ecological Euro VI and electric buses.