On Monday, Torda (Turda in Romanian) introduced 20 electric buses into circulation, becoming the first and, for now, only Romanian city with exclusively electric public transport. The city bought 20 electric buses with European funds and also established a new public transport company, the Transport Urban Public. The company’s only stakeholder is the City Council, according to several local newspapers and web portals.
The city mayor, Cristian Matei, told Mediafax news agency that the new company’s entire fleet is made up of the 20 newly purchased electric buses. The buses are completely modern and feature video surveillance cameras, a GPS system, special ramps for people with disabilities, air conditioning, WiFi and an e-ticketing system. According to the mayor, in 2020 the city will change the old paper tickets to electric cards, which will be distributed for free.
The city purchased the 20 electric buses for RON 50.1 million (EUR 10.6 million).
🚌A sosit și autobuzul cu numărul 13, un număr cu noroc de data aceasta!
🚌A sosit și autobuzul cu numărul 13, un număr cu noroc de data aceasta!Încă 7 livrări și flota va fi completă!#AutobuzeElectrice #MobilitateUrbană #FonduriEuropene #TransportPublicModern
Publicată de Primaria Turda pe Vineri, 27 septembrie 2019
Mayor Matei explained why they established a new public transport company. He stated that until now, public transport was provided by a private operator, so they needed a new one that was under the authority of the Local Council. “An opportunity study has been carried out, which showed that, for accessing European funds, it is advised to have a public transport operator in Torda, which is part of the city,” the mayor said.
The price of the tickets won’t be increased, and the routes and schedules will remain the same after the new Torda public transport company is set up.
Torda is a city in Kolozs (Cluj) County, only 32 kilometers away from Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca), the capital of Transylvania. It has approximately 47,000 inhabitants living in an area of 91.43 square kilometers.
Torda is not the first city to purchase electric buses, as Kolozsvár now has 41 electric buses, 82 trolleybuses and 26 trams.
Title image: The new electric buses of Torda
