at’s city bus fleet in Siena is renewed. Presented today, Tuesday 18 June 2024, in Piazza Matteotti in Siena were the new 10.8 meter vehicles that Autolinee Toscane purchased, thanks to co-financing from the Tuscany Region, to renew its fleet.
This is a first supply of a methane lot which includes a total of 14 new vehicles for Siena, the arrival of which will be completed in the next few days.
The new vehicles, the Otokar brand, Kent model, are 10.8 meters long and have 89 seats in total (of which 26 are seats), have two double doors for passengers to board and alight, and are accessible to disabled people with wheelchairs (in this case the capacity drops to 80 seats precisely to make room for disabled people) thanks to the presence of the manual platform and a special space for safe travel, they have a closed cabin for the driver and are Euro 6 methane powered. As with all AT vehicles, the AVM system, video surveillance and passenger counting, validation and validation machine has been installed. Another very useful aspect for older users: at the stop, special technology allows the boarding platform to be lowered to make it easier for passengers to board.
“We continue our fleet renewal process throughout the regional territory and that of Siena – explained theCEO of Autolinee Toscane, Jean-Luc Laugaa -. In this basin we have now reached 48 new buses arriving since the start of management. Overall, we have purchased almost 400 new buses since our arrival in November 2021. Between now and the end of the year, another 300 will arrive throughout Tuscany for a total of almost 700 in the space of 3 years, so as to replace the older vehicles , polluting and less performing. For the Siena basin, 52 new buses have been purchased from November 2021 to today and a further 35 will arrive by the end of this year. This is a strong signal of our intent to renew, the result of the programming and our investment plan which, for Siena foresees the arrival of further vehicles, including extra-urban ones, already in the next few weeks, so as to lower the average age of our fleet and approach the next school year with new buses”.
“The renewal of the means – underlines thecouncilor for mobility, transport and municipal police of the Municipality of Siena Enrico Tucci – it is a fundamental aspect for local transport for the improvement of service to citizens, both in terms of comfort and general quality standards, without forgetting the environmental aspect. As an administration we are committed to continuous monitoring of the service, with constant dialogue with the manager. The agreement involving the Municipal Police must be inserted in this context: the support that the AT staff will have with the functions of traffic auxiliaries will lighten part of the commitment of our officers, in an interesting form of collaboration that can possibly be developed”.
“It is a great pleasure to be able to contribute to the green transition process in a splendid area like that of Siena, which has long been committed to renewing its fleet with sustainable solutions,” they declare from Otokar Italia, present with Berkan Saglam, Italian Administrator. “Otokar has consistently invested in and promoted greener technologies, anticipating the need for sustainable and environmentally friendly mobility solutions. Today, the market recognizes the merits of this commitment, as demonstrated by the partnership with Autolinee Toscane and the delivery of our 30 Kent CNG, the ideal means of traveling together towards decarbonisation”.
The new vehicles, like all urban ones in Tuscany, are white in color and display the “at” logo. The new vehicles will serve in the Siena Urbano basin, on all lines.
The buses will be refueled internally, via the methane system of the Siena Due Ponti depot, consisting of three compressors with electric motors made by Nuova Pignone. The compressors bring the gas coming from the network to a pressure of 220 bar useful for refueling the vehicles. The system is completed by refueling columns equipped with a total of 6 dispensers.
During the presentation of the new buses, the new collaboration between the Municipal Police of Siena and Autolinee Toscane: the AT operations staff, in fact, will be able to have traffic auxiliary functions in the bus terminal areas of Pizza Gramsci (urban bus transit), Via Tozzi (extra-urban and regional bus transit) and Piazza del Sale (urban bus transit) in the comparisons exclusively with private cars parked prohibited inside the transit and parking bays reserved for public transport.
