The electric bus, Andino 18, which began operating March 16th between the Colombian cities of Bogota and Medellin, is a source of inspiration for the initiative “Ciudanos y Movilidad” or “ Citizens and Mobility”. The group Clean Costa Rica promotes implementing eco-friendly public transport in the country, by way of conducting surveys to get tips from citizens.
With 8 meters in length and the capacity to hold 160 passengers, the Andino 18 in an alternative that the company thinks might be able to help fix the current chaos in the country.
The analyst specializing in climate change and director of Clean Costa Rica, Monica Araya, detailed that in the upcoming months their team will be traveling to Colombia to find out the details surrounding this electric bus’ function.
The expert in environmental materials commented that in less than four months since it started running, Andino 18 has transported around 100 million people, generating huge savings in energy, as well as economic and environmental profits.
Araya reiterated the necessity for Costa Rica to coordinate between different sectors in order to generate the maximum amount of clean energy possible for the country. Those that have converted are in a “very important niche” as far as environmentally conscious development goes.
To achieve her goal, they sat down with model citizens, who saw motivation to utilize public transport and improve the quality of their lives, said Araya.
According to statistics published by the Colombian press, the electric bus Andino 18 requires only one charging session of it’s battery for every 410 kilometers, the distance that separates Bogota and Medellin.
The model uses an amount, translated to colones, that doesn’t pass 29 mil to charge and requires only two charges daily, while for a conventional bus the daily cost in diesel is approximately 110 mil colones. Araya calculated that over the course of its battery’s lifespan the bus could generate a savings of nearly 365 million dollars through combustibles not used, and changes of oil that are no longer necessary, it also makes little noise compared to the conventional bus.