60 electric buses will be deployed progressively in the country from next year, with the final batch delivered in 2020, announced Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Wednesday (24 October) as it announced the awarding tender to three suppliers.
LTA stated that it has awarded the tender to procure the buses to three tenderers, which comprised of 20 single-deck electric buses to BYD (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. for a contract sum of about S$17 million; 20 single-deck electric buses to ST Engineering Land Systems for a contract sum of about S$15 million; and 10 single-deck and 10 double-deck electric buses to Yutong-NARI Consortium for a contract sum of about S$18 million.
The authority stated that the procurement of the electric buses is part of LTA’s efforts to build a more environmentally friendly public bus fleet and commuters can expect quieter and smoother rides, while the bus captains can also enjoy a more comfortable working environment.
These buses will also be equipped with new Passenger Information Display Systems, which provide commuters with audio and visual information about their journey, it added.
When evaluating the bids, LTA noted that it had considered various aspects of the participating tenderers, such as their relevant experience, track records, technical capabilities, flexibility of solutions, adherence to requirements and compliance with local regulations.
The three winning bidders had submitted high quality and competitive proposals and as such, the tender was eventually awarded to multiple suppliers to allow LTA to test out different charging technologies available in the market, it noted.
The authority then said tha these buses will help it understand the operational and technical challenges that come with the wider deployment and maintenance of electric buses under our tropical climate and traffic conditions, and enable it to calibrate its approach in adopting electric buses in the future.