Lisbon, Jan. 13, 2025 (Lusa) - The Portuguese government has approved funding for 11 tenders totalling €90 million for the purchase of 413 zero-emission buses as part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR).
"Following the call for tenders launched by the ministry for the environment and energy, in conjunction with the ministry for infrastructure and housing, for the purchase of zero-emission buses, funding for 11 bids totalling €90 million has been approved," the executive said in a statement.
This amount, which is part of the PRR (the EU bazooka funds for post pandemic economic development), will enable the purchase of 413 buses.
The funding in question, earmarked for the whole of mainland Portugal, was divided into two categories - Lisbon and the Porto Metropolitan Areas (€45 million) and the rest of the country (€45 million).
In the first category, the bids placed in the first four places were fully funded, namely Alsa Todi Metropolitana de Lisboa - 60 buses (€12 million), Nex Mainland Portugal Holding Branch - 53 buses (€12 million), Barraqueiro Transportes - 55 buses (€11.9 million) and Scotturb - 31 buses (€7.6 million).
The fifth application received funding corresponding to the remaining allocation, i.e. 16.04% - Serviços Municipalizados de Transportes Coletivos do Barreiro - 40 buses (around €1.4 million).
In the second category, the following applications received full funding: Guimabus - 50 buses (€12 million), Transportes Urbanos de Braga - 38 buses (€11.8 million), Município de Viana do Castelo - 17 buses (€5.6 million), Serviços Municipalizados de Transportes Urbanos de Coimbra - 30 buses (€8.3 million) and Transdev Norte - 22 buses (€7.2 million).
Rodoviária do Lis' application - 17 buses - was funded by 1.55%, i.e. with the rest of the allocation ( €84,238.44).
The approved funding also covers the installation of 184 electricity charging points.
"With the approval of this funding, the government is putting into effect its commitment to decarbonisation in order to improve the environment and the population's quality of life throughout the entire country," said the minister for the environment and energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, quoted in the same press release.
For his part, the minister for housing and infrastructure, Miguel Pinto Luz, said that transport requires "assertive public policies to bring more people into public transport", adding that the provision of transport must be increasingly environmentally friendly.
PE/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
