Costa Rica launches second phase of its electric bus pilot plan

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Ministry of Public Works and Transportation indicated that the 20 kilometers route between the capital San José and the city of Alajuela (center) will be served by 2 electric buses over the next 4 months.

Two of the 3 electric buses donated by the German government began running this route, operated by TUASA, on Tuesday in the second phase of the pilot project for the electrification of public transportation promoted by the Costa Rican government with the support of international cooperation agencies.

“The country is ready for a future with cleaner and quieter cities. The transformation of our public transportation fleet will benefit every Costa Rican and render the system more efficient in terms of money and energy. The goal set by the National Decarbonization Plan is to achieve a modern, efficient, fair and sustainable Costa Rica,” Minister of Environment and Energy Andrea Meza said.

During the past 4 months, the electric buses operated the route between San José – Desamparados – San Rafael, in the capital city, and according to authorities the results were very positive.

“The first results of the pilot plan showed that it is technically feasible to electrify the bus service and that electric buses improve air quality. One of the most important results is related to daily operating costs, which are 5 times lower than for diesel buses,” explained First Lady Claudia Dobles, the project’s proponent.

The electric bus initiative is intended to create framework conditions and an operating model that can be replicated to electrify public transportation in the country.

The third bus donated by the German government is being tested in other routes with different conditions, so the third route is under review and is expected to operate from next December.

The 3 electric buses were donated as part of the MiTransporte project, implemented by GIZ and commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) through its International Climate Initiative (IKI).

“From the German cooperation we continue to assist Costa Rica on its path towards the decarbonization of its public transport system through the implementation of the electric bus pilot project, which enables us to gather solid data to describe, analyze and assess this technology’s operation in the country’s real conditions,” said the director of the MiTransporte project Claus Kruse.

Authorities expect that the operation of this second route will continue to provide complementary data to the first one in order to assess the technical, operational, economic and environmental feasibility of electric buses in Costa Rica.