Panama testing electric buses to heritage site

ELECTRIC powered street transportation is the wave of the future and Mayor José Isabel Blandón intends Panama to be on its crest.

Before December, the city will begin a six months-test of an electric bus on a route from the metro station of Plaza Cinco de Mayo to the iconic Casco Viejo World Heritage site.

On Friday, September 1 Blandon said that when he was at a forum in Bogota the Chinese Company BVD  which operates electric buses in the Colombian capital and has an office in Panama offered a free six month’s test of the bus.

The mayor said that the city plan envisaged three routes for travelers to the old city: from Plaza 5 de Mayo, from Amador and from El Chorrillo.

City Hall would coordinate this pilot plan with the Transit Authority,(ATTT) the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Energy and the  Mi Bus company. During the test period, it would be verified if the route would have demand,  and if the bus can operate well in the streets of San Felipe.

The mayor said he had already made the proviso that the bus should be modified for use by people in wheel chairs.

If the pilotrun is successfu,  Panama City Hall would buy the buses and they would be operated by the Mi Bus Company.

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