Renovation Plan: nearly 6 million people will have access to new Red Movilidad electric buses

The Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications is consolidating electromobility in the Red system, directly benefiting 5.8 million users. In an unprecedented process – given that no other city in the world has implemented a project of this magnitude, apart from China – in just eight months 1,800 new electric buses will be incorporated, which, added to the current ones, will represent 68% of the total Red Movilidad fleet. To these will be added new routes and the modification of others.

According to the work schedule, 1600 diesel buses will be replaced by new electric buses, which will gradually be incorporated into different districts of Santiago, lowering the average age of the vehicles in the system from 6.2 years to 3 years.

In this regard, Minister Juan Carlos Muñoz stressed that “Chile is a pioneer in electromobility in the world. Today we are consolidating Santiago as the city, outside of China, with more electric buses, which is a contribution to the fight against climate change. For this reason, over the next few months we will incorporate more than 1,800 new buses into the service, which will consolidate our country’s leadership in the use of this type of technology, reaching 68% electric”.

But the arrival of new zero-emission buses requires progress in infrastructure dedicated to this technology, so it was announced that 27 new electroterminals will be enabled in Santiago.

“On July 26, the consolidation of Red electromobility begins. In eight months we will have 30 communes with more than 90% of their fleet with Red standard buses and municipalities such as Lo Espejo, Puente Alto, San Joaquín and Macul, will reach 100% of their fleet with this standard,” said Paola Tapia Salas, director of Metropolitan Public Transport.

According to the authorities, the citizen participation process that included a survey answered by more than 15 thousand people; community dialogues in 20 municipalities and 10 specific workshops with caregivers, people with disabilities, children and adolescents, among others, was key in the prioritization of fleet renewal, improvements to routes and operation of the Red system defined for the ongoing process.

In this regard, the mayor of Pedro Aguirre Cerda, Luis Astudillo pointed out that, “We are very satisfied with the management that Red Movilidad is carrying out, since it is consolidating a profound process of transformation of the transport system in Greater Santiago. In this regard, our neighbors of Pedro Aguirre will see gradual improvements, with 21 routes operating in the commune and that will begin to offer their services with red electric buses, reaching a total of 97 percent of the fleet under the RED standard. Without a doubt, excellent news for all users of the commune.”

For her part, Javiera Reyes, mayor of Lo Espejo said that “I want to thank this effort that is being made particularly in the southern area of Santiago with the arrival of electric buses of public transport. The commune of Lo Espejo is the one with the longest travel time to the center of Santiago, it is 130 minutes at rush hour according to studies by the INE and Serviu, so the arrival of electromobility to Lo Espejo seems to us positive news that will give quality of life and displacement to the neighbors. This important news, accompanied by the announcement of the Metro for Lo Espejo, speaks of a State that is prioritizing territorial justice.”