Dubai South to hit the road with its first E-bus

The world’s largest greenfield urban development, Dubai South takes the green approach towards developing its mass transit system

Dubai-UAE: 6 December, 2016:  In a significant step towards building a low carbon footprint city, Dubai South today signed an agreement with Transit Australia Group (TAG). The signing was witnessed by Ahmed Al Ansari, Acting CEO, Dubai South and Michael McGee, CEO, Transit Australia Group.  The partnership involves the Australian mass transit company providing Dubai South with its first E-bus by early next year. 

Ahmed Al Ansari, Acting CEO, Dubai South said: “The signing of today’s agreement marks an important step in the relationship between Dubai South, the Queensland Trade Commission and Transit Australia Group. It’s also a step closer in fulfilling our ambitious aim of building a sustainable urban destination with technology, innovation, and smart planning at its core. At Dubai South we are pioneering an ambitious smart city transformation guided by people’s happiness. The aim is to build a smart city that enables its people to do smart things with minimum ecological impact and the environmentally friendly e-bus is a positive step in that direction.” 

“Dubai South is a truly incredible urban transformational project. It is a visionary project, with a 50-year horizon. It is a great honor to be working in partnership with the Dubai South team to help strategically plan the mass transit system.  Our environmentally friendly electric bus is the future of public transport. Australia has an opportunity to be a world leader and cut environmental pollution at the same time,” said Michael McGee, CEO, TAG. 

The zero-carbon bus is part of the next generation of mass transit vehicles and is said to cost 80 per cent less to maintain than a standard diesel bus. Pegged as a game changer for public transport, the new bus utilizes advanced battery and regenerative braking technology. The environmentally friendly bus can be charged at the depot and while in service, and has a range of at least 300km and capacity for 50 passengers. Innovations have been included in the design to include bench seats that can be reversed to allow passengers to face each other and socialise, as well as USB connections to allow passengers to charge mobile phones.