Having placed an order for 70 low-floor, natural gas-fuelled city buses in August last year, the municipal operator Miejskie Zakłady Autobusowe (MZA) in Warsaw has decided to take advantage of the contractual option and to increase its order to 100 vehicles in total.
In August 2020, MZA in Warsaw signed a contract for 70 natural gas-fuelled buses; that order consisted of 40 Solaris Urbino 12 CNG and 30 articulated Solaris Urbino 18 CNG buses. The first vehicles under that contract are currently being handed over to the customer. At the same time the operator has decided to extend last year’s order and to commission another 30 articulated buses running on natural gas. The newly ordered CNG buses are to be delivered at the beginning of 2022.
The 18-metre buses can carry up to 135 people at a time. The vehicles feature a high-standard equipment. Of all the components enhancing passengers’ comfort offered by Solaris the carrier has chosen among others air conditioning for the whole vehicle, USB ports that make it possible to recharge mobile devices, a comprehensive passenger information system and a video surveillance system with cameras monitoring both the passenger compartment and the driver’s cabin as well as the area in front of the vehicle.
Another component increasing the safety of passengers in public transport is a so-called alcolock, i.e. a breath alcohol ignition interlock. It requires the driver to undergo a breathalyser test. If the test result turns out positive, the system will disable the ignition.
The Solaris Urbino 18 CNG for Warsaw operator MZA will also be fitted with closed driver’s cabins with a separate entrance, which are a standard feature for buses of that operator. The enclosed driver’s work space ensures greater work comfort. What is more, it will work perfectly throughout the epidemic as it limits the driver’s contact with passengers, thus minimising the risk of infection.
Operator MZA in Warsaw is the biggest – and incidentally also one of the first – clients served by Solaris. The municipal operator has bought over 1300 vehicles of various generations of the Solaris brand so far, including 150 highly innovative electric buses and 100 environmentally friendly buses running on compressed natural gas. According to the plans of the operator, by 2027 half of all the 1,500 Warsaw-based buses are to be low- and zero-emission vehicles.
SOURCE: Solaris
