Volvo delivers buses for the Soccer World Cup

Prior to the Soccer World Cup, several South African cities are investing in building intelligent bus-based transport systems. Two of the three cities have selected Volvo as its supplier of buses.

An increasing number of global cities are currently enhancing the efficiency of their transport systems by investing in Bus Rapid Transit, BRT. These are intelligent bus-based transport systems with separate bus lanes, buses with high passenger capacity, efficient bus stops and information systems for guiding traffic. South Africa is currently the country with the largest establishment of BRT. This is being done now due to the needs brought on by the World Cup in soccer, but this is just the beginning. “Many South African cities have highly ambitious plans to solve the current, often chaotic, traffic situation,” says Marius Botha, Head of Volvo Buses in South Africa. “These expansion plans are scheduled to continue until 2020.This is also very much an environmental project, since the BRT system contributes to lower emissions. The cities have also decided that the buses will be equipped with Euro-4 engines, despite there being no such legal requirements in South Africa.” Two of the three cities that are now building BRT systems, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, have decided to place their orders for the buses required for the Soccer World Cup with Volvo Buses. In Port Elizabeth, the city selected Volvo Buses as its total supplier. This includes the buses – gold contracts that involve Volvo taking responsibility for all service and repair work on the vehicles, and the ITS4mobility traffic-information system. Port Elizabeth has ordered 25 articulated buses of the Volvo B9SLA model with bodies from Marco Polo. South Africa has left-hand traffic and the buses will have four doors on the right side for quickly getting on and off at the special stops along the BRT corridors. The buses also have three doors on the left side that are deployed when driving in mixed traffic further out on the bus routes. The advantage of the B9SLA model is that the engine is placed far upfront on the left side of the bus, which means that axle pressure can be optimally used, and the bus has capacity for 115 passengers. The city has also ordered a normal 12-meter prototype bus, a Volvo B7RLE, for testing in the BRT system. Cape Town has ordered 43 Volvo buses for its system with specifications for high floor systems with elevated platforms at the bus stops. This order pertains to eight articulated Volvo B12M buses and 35 12-meter Volvo B7R buses. Marco Polo will also manufacture the bodies for these buses. “Since the first BRT systems were built in South America in the 1980s, Volvo Buses has been convinced that this is the most cost-effective way to modernize and enhance the efficiency of urban public transportation,” says Peter Danielsson, BRT Manager at Volvo Buses. “Today, Volvo is the world’s leading suppliers of buses to BRT systems and we are gratified that we can participate in the ambitious investment by South African cities.” May 4, 2010 For further information, please contact Per-Martin Johansson, press officer, +46 31 322 52 00, per-martin.johansson@volvo.com Download picture here Visit http://www.thenewsmarket.com/volvogroup to access broadcast-standard video from Volvo Group. You can preview and request video, and choose to receive as a MPEG2 file or by Beta SP tape. Registration and video is free to the media.

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