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The All-Electric Bus Tests Have Started in Rabat!
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Rabat’s first all-electric bus eCitaro was tested on a first trial journey on Friday.
The Rabat Anwar Firm for Sustainable Transport organized the experiment in collaboration with Auto Nejma, the sole agent of Mercedes-Benz in Morocco, and Alsa City Bus, the company in charge of administering the Moroccan capital’s bus networks.
According to a news statement issued by the trial’s organizers, the integration of EVs into Rabat’s public transportation network is part of an attempt to meet the needs of Morocco‘s New Development Model, which specifies environmentally and economically viable urban transportation options.
Mercedes-Benz manufactures the buses, which are called eCitaro, and are part of the German company’s distinctive Citaro bus portfolio.
In the presence of the chairwoman of the capital’s collective council, Asmaa Gallo, and managers of urban transportation contractors, a trial operation to test an electric bus was started last week in Rabat, Morocco’s capital.
While the results of the test trip were encouraging, officials have stated that the intricacies of the buses’ integration have not yet been completed.
The Moroccan News Agency stated that “this ecological approach improves Rabat’s status as a “green city,” noting that it has already benefited from urban and semi-urban green areas, as well as a green belt encompassing 1,063 hectares.”
The source added that the future operation of these electric buses adds additional value to Morocco‘s efforts to achieve its obligations to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to position it among the top five nations in the world that have begun real action toward the energy transition.
The President of the Capital’s Collective Council said in her speech that “Morocco is strengthening its multidimensional commitment to climate issues by raising the ambition of its nationally determined contribution to reduce greenhouse gases by 45.5 percent by 2030,” as stated in Moroccan King Mohammed VI’s COP26 speech.
She also said that Rabat was selected as the “first city” by the Orth Day Network organization in 2010 to host and honor the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, emphasizing that the city “continues to promote clean energy and respond to climate problems.”
