The Arrecife City Council has announced that it will acquire three electric buses that will be added to the municipal fleet, in addition to the supply and installation "of three charging points", charged to the municipal budgets of 2021.
The Consistory has detailed that this new acquisition was put out to tender last Friday, for an amount of 1,007,674.63 euros, taxes included. The contract, whose bidding period ends on January 17, 2022, "is by open procedure and is divided into two lots, 943,800 euros for the supply of the three vehicles and 63,874.63 euros for the three charging points."
"We are fulfilling the objective of modernizing the municipal bus service with clean energy, we are taking a first step with municipal financing, but we continue to bet on sustainable mobility, and we will increase the municipal fleet of electric buses taking advantage of the European funds planned for this type of initiatives," says the mayor, Astrid Pérez.
From the Arrecife City Council they point out that throughout 2021 "there has been a transformation and modernization of the municipal bus service", with the contracting "of the vehicle maintenance service and the incorporation of three new drivers through the job bank", while Arrecife already has "a Municipal Urban Mobility Plan".
The Councilor for Transport and Mobility, Ángela Hernández, has highlighted for her part that with the acquisition of these three electric buses they value "the non-polluting transport of a service that has also seen the frequency and number of lines improve, with the launch of Radial 10 that covers the center of Arrecife and with the reinforcement of Line 1 with another bus."
From the Consistory they point out that Radial 10 "began to operate on May 31", and if in June it was used by 979 people, "the data for the month of October is that 1,899 citizens have used this new line that connects the El Reducto area, which leaves the Interchange and runs through the city center to the Emergency stop of the General Hospital."
The buses "in 6 months" and training for municipal employees
As detailed by the Arrecife City Council, the supply of the charging point contemplates "the installation of the charging post and the pipes, conductors and electrical protections to the general panel". They add that the contract will have "a maximum duration of six months", a period in which "both the three municipal electric buses and the respective charging points must be supplied", counting from the day following the formalization of the contract.
The vehicles will have "a minimum guarantee of four years", without a limit of kilometers. They add from the Consistory that a guarantee and management period for the charging points "of four years" is also established.
From the City Council they require bidders to "have technical facilities that guarantee the after-sales service during the warranty period and subsequently, the useful life of the vehicle." For this, they point out that "a list of own or concerted workshops must be provided, both for the buses and for the charging points, located on the island of Lanzarote, that cover all the necessary specialties to resolve the possible breakdowns that may arise during the useful life of the vehicle."
In addition, they point out from the Consistory that the awarded company, both for lot 1 and lot 2, "will provide training for the necessary time, to those people of the municipal staff assigned to the municipal bus service, both mechanics and drivers in their facilities, with the necessary means for a complete training, courses that will be free."
