Volvo Buses
Australia
“The Bus Rapid Transit system of Rio de Janeiro is an example which shows that investing in an organized, bus-based transportation system is well worth it. It increases efficiency of urban transportation, with higher average speeds and shorter displacement times, in addition to the implementation being cheaper and faster”, said Luis Carlos Pimenta, president of Volvo Bus Latin America.
The Volvo buses are B340M. The articulated buses, which will be bodied by Neobus and Marcopolo, are 21 meters long and carry 180 passengers, which is a capacity that is 20% higher than of the majority of similar buses currently in operation in Rio de Janeiro. This higher transport capacity enables a reduction in the number of vehicles operating in the corridor, which consequently increases the average speed of the system, reducing emissions of pollutants and operating costs.
Volvo is a pioneer in the development of vehicles for BRT systems and is the market leader in this segment in Latin America. The company has delivered more than 3,600 buses to the BRT-systems of Curitiba, Bogotá, Guatemala City, Mexico City, Santiago de Chile and San Salvador.
The B340M buses are equipped with automatic gearbox, disk brakes and EBS, an electronic brake control system that offers higher efficiency and stability when braking.
“These are items that ensure security for the operation, comfort for passengers plus the reduced operating costs, fundamental features for quality public transportation”, affirms Euclides Castro, Volvo Bus Latin America urban bus manager.
Another advantage of the vehicles is the intelligent acceleration control, a Volvo exclusive feature that enables further reduction of fuel consumption. The function ensures that only the necessary power is deployed in startups and speed retakes, according to the weight of the vehicle.