Meet 700th electric bus on Moscow routes

Moscow’s electric buses carried more than 100 million passengers and almost 44 million kilometers run already.

On 10 of August the 700th electric bus was rolled on duty in Moscow. The newcomer was assembled in Moscow by KAMAZ.

“In three years, the fleet of Russian electric buses has increased from zero to 700. By the end of the year, another 300 electric #buses will arrive in Moscow, 2/3 of newcomers will be assembled at the innovative SVARZ eco-plant”, - MaksmLiksutov, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Transport.

Russian capital plans to launch a new generation of electric buses on 30 more bus routes. The fleet will be increased to 2,200 units by 2024. Since this year, Moscow has refused to purchase diesel buses for transportation. Moscow is the European leader in the number of new-generation transport in the city. Since May 2021, 60 electric buses have been assembled at the SVARZ eco-plant and roll on duty. Another 200 e-buses are planned to be ready by the end of the year, increasing the total number of electric buses to 1000. The use of electric buses reduced the emissions of pollutants into the air of Moscow by 40 thousand tons in 2020.

The main problem when deploying an electric bus is finding enough resources for both operational and capital costs. While the operators ' own resources are a key component of the cost of financing, the city uses a combination of various external financing tools.

All eco-transport is bought at the expense of Green Bonds — debt securities, the funds from which the Moscow Government directs to the development of eco-projects of the city. Thus, citizens see that their funds improve the ecosystem of the metropolis.

Electric buses require a completely new approach from the industry. Eco-friendly infrastructure is developing: ultra-fast charging stations are being installed especially for electric buses throughout Moscow: there are 129 of them in the city now. It is planned that by the end of 2023 there will be about 500 of them. Charging stations are unified, they can be used by electric buses of different manufacturers.

In the next 10 years, electric buses will be the predominant choice for clean fleets. However, this is not the only choice: natural gas and hybrid buses were also considered viable technologies, and fuel cells are attracting increasing interest.

"Improving the environment is one of our most important priorities in Moscow. We continue to adapt public transport in accordance with the "green" agenda. It is important for us to create a modern, convenient, environmentally friendly transport in Russia. Today we are working on the creation of a hydrogen bus – the most modern urban land transport in the world. It will be developed on the basis of the SVARZ plant for the production of electric buses. This will be a Russian development for Moscow and the residents of the city. The new hydrogen buses will become the most environmentally friendly, innovative and safe transport for passengers of our city, " -  Maksim Liksutov, Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Transport

Moscow has gone from the first buses to electric buses in 97 years.

The official history of the Moscow bus began on August 8, 1924, when the first regular route was opened. It run from Kalanchevskaya Square to Tverskaya Zastava. The length of the route was 8,5 kilometers and the travel time was about 30 minutes. The first 8 cars were made by English company Leyland; they could reach a maximum speed of 30 kilometers per hour. After first experience of riding Leyland buses, a question about building national bus fleet raised.

The most successful attempt was popular pre-war model ZIS-8, which still could not boast of a bus layout. Soon almost all the ZIS left for the front and returned thoroughly battered in 1945. So, city began to assemble first more advanced and modern models from the remnants of old cars. The post-war novelty ZIS-154 was fundamentally a new bus with an all-metal body and a car interior layout was produced for a very short time. Soon it was replaced by more advanced models ZIS-155 and ZIL-158. It was a time of prosperity of the Soviet bus industry, the development of new models began, production was improved. One of the main domestic manufacturers of rolling stock - the LiAZ plant was gaining strength.

Since the middle of the last century the bus has become the main type of passenger transport in all regions of Russia. Only largest cities that have a metro give a leading role to it.

In the first half of 60s, the era of LiAZ-677 came. By 80s, the fleet of these buses had grown in Moscow to almost 7000 units. At that time, it was a comfortable city bus with an air suspension and wide doors. This bus was fundamentally new not only for passengers, but also for drivers — for the first time a hydro-mechanical automatic transmission was used in it. Automatic transmissions were installed on government limousines only before. Buses of this brand were delivered not only to cities and republics of the Soviet Union, but also abroad.

After that, the time of the decline of the domestic automobile industry came, the first Hungarian Icaruses conquered the streets of Moscow. Passengers immediately began to call them "accordion". Accordions were replaced by Ikarus-280 -one of the most popular and mass-produced buses in the world.

For 97 years the speed of the Moscow bus has increased significantly. The number of rolling stock has exceeded 7.5 thousand units, and the number of routes has approached 760. The total length of the Mosgortrans bus routes is 8,500 km. Today, Moscow's bus fleet is the youngest in Europe. Bus transport is very popular among citizens — about 2.5 million passengers use it every day.

Cities are increasingly seeking to decarbonize their public transport by introducing electric mobility opportunities. In recent years, many new strategies have been aimed at decarbonizing both municipal parks and the wider public transport network. Starting from 2018, diesel buses are being replaced with more environmentally friendly electric buses.