A total of 16 new, low-emission buses will enter into service in Helsinki at the beginning of 2019. All 48 buses included in this bidding round are low-floor and equipped with air conditioning and driving style monitoring system. Photo: HSL/Lauri Eriksson
The Execute Board of HSL awarded contracts for bus services on Tuesday 17 April.
Helsingin Bussiliikenne won Helsinki internal routes 14, 17, 18, 18N and 24, operated with 31 buses. Nobina Finland won the Herttoniemi routes 80, 81, 82, 82B and 83, operated with 17 buses. Both operators are currently operating the routes. The bids were evaluated using the Most Economically Advantageous Tender criteria.
A total of 16 new, low-emission buses will enter into service in Helsinki at the beginning of 2019. All 48 buses included in this bidding round are low-floor and equipped with air conditioning and driving style monitoring system. Sixteen of the buses will be Euro 6 compliant, low-emission vehicles with substantially lower local emissions than other buses. In addition, there are two low-emission hybrid buses.
“When comparing bids, we favor solutions with positive impact on air quality that reduce harmful local emissions and carbon emission. Our goal is emission-free public transport by 2025,” says Tero Anttila, the Director of HSL’s Public Transport Department.
The contract term for the routes now tendered will be two years from the beginning of 2019. The contracts include an option to extend for up to two years, provided certain conditision are met. The option years allow HSL to prepare for potential changes to the tendered routes.
The volume of the tendered services is about 2.8 million route kilometers in 2019, with 48 buses on weekdays. The services account for about four per cent of the bus services procured by HSL and three per cent of the number of vehicles required.