Mexico City launches trolley bus tender

Mexico City will buy 30 buses for the local trolley system this year to make the service more efficient.

Some 290mn pesos (US$15mn) have been earmarked for the buses, mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday.

The new buses will serve the zero emissions corridor running along Eje Central avenue, which crosses the Gustavo A. Madero, Cuauhtémoc, Benito Juárez, and Coyoacán districts.

The mayor aims to buy 100 buses for the system during her term, which expires in 2024.

Currently the trolley system includes 300 buses, but only 135 were operating by the end of the previous administration. Under the new administration, Sheinbaum said, 20 trolleys have been repaired and put back into operation.

Trolley buses were last bought around 20 years ago, the mayor said.

Guillermo Calderón, director of electric transport system STE, said that the zero emission buses will be equipped with a CCTV surveillance system, and an additional battery that allows to increase autonomy by up to 10km.

The units will have capacity to accommodate 90 passengers and be wheelchair accessible. They will boost the number of passengers using the trolley corridor from 67,000 to 100,000.

Intervals between buses will fall to four minutes from six, due to the new buses and travel times decrease by 20 minutes on average, Calderón said.

The buses were bought under the 10.2bn-peso public transportation plan Sheinbaum unveiled in December.

Tender

An international tender has already been launched, with the terms being available at the STE's website.

A non-mandatory clarification meeting is scheduled for February 18, bid submission deadline and opening date is March 1. The winner will be announced on April 1 and the contract will be signed on April 8.

All buses must be delivered by November 15.

According to authorities, six firms have already expressed interest in supplying the buses.

More information on the tender, in Spanish, is available here.