Providing decent public transportation services is of high importance worldwide and there is much room for improvement in Iran, a senior official says.
Mehdi Jamalinejad, the head of Iran's Municipalities and Village Administrators Organization affiliated to the Interior Ministry, noted that around 20,000 buses are operating in urban transport network nationwide, a large share of which is dilapidated, ISNA reported.
“To provide a well-functioning transport system, an additional 35,000 vehicles are required,” he said, adding that negotiations are underway with domestic automakers for supplying new buses.
Noting that manufacturing electric buses, as an alternative to gas and diesel buses, is also on the agenda, the official said that in Tehran, municipal officials are planning to add 50 e-buses to the transport fleet.
“Experts say this requires 1.6 trillion rials [$6.6 million], which is to be supplied by the Plan and Budget Organization within a week,” he said.
Jamalinejad hoped that recent measures for producing electric vehicles and establishing the relevant infrastructure will expedite the electrification of public transportation.
In early June, the domestic engineering and energy giant, MAPNA Group, unveiled its first locally-made electric bus in the shrine city of Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi Province.
Dubbed ‘Shetab’, the e-bus is designed and manufactured by Parsan Electric Bus Production Company, a joint venture between MAPNA and Oghab Afshan Industrial and Manufacturing Company.
According to Parsan Electric Bus Production Company, over 60% of the vehicle are designed and manufactured domestically.
MAPNA intends to achieve 100% indigenization by investing in parallel battery and engine development projects.
These electric buses will be offered in several forms, each with a different battery capacity to meet the demands of different routes.
The engineering group’s Electric and Control Engineering and Manufacturing Company set up a joint venture with Bam Khodro, a subsidiary of Kerman Motor Company, for the design and production of A- and B-class EVs in late May.
Reports say that in the first phase, the deal calls for the production of public electric vehicles.
In view of MAPNA’s previous efforts in setting up EV charging stations in Mashhad and Tehran, there is a glimmer of hope that Iran will gradually switch to the clean and efficient transportation mode.
Until then, overhauling old buses seems to be the easiest solution for reviving the ailing transportation.
Plans for Major Boost
With the support of the Plan and Budget Organization and Omid Entrepreneurship Fund, 5,000 dilapidated buses are to be overhauled in 68 cities.
Based on the scheme devised in November 2020, the fund pays cheap loans worth 2.24 billion rials ($9.300) to bus owners. The loans will be offered with a 4% interest and a repayment period of five years.
The remaining expenses are to be covered by municipalities and owners. Further details will be announced by the officials later.
“Of the total number of buses covered by the scheme, 1,700 will be overhauled in the capital city of Tehran and Isfahan, 1,600 in Karaj, Ahvaz and Kermanshah and the rest in other cities,” Hamid Pour-Mohammadi, a PBO deputy, said.
“The restoration scheme is to improve public transportation services in metropolises, increase the employment rate in the sector, improve ventilation systems that benefit passengers, especially during the Covid-19 outbreak, help curb the suffocating air pollution, increase the efficiency of fuel consumption and boost transportation safety.”
Challenges in Tehran
Streamlining the dilapidated bus fleet in the capital has posed a perpetual challenge for officials, as the city’s transportation fleet requires 7,000 new high-quality buses to deliver adequate mobility services to the public.
Mahmoud Tarfa, the head of Tehran Bus Company, said 50% of the buses operating in Tehran’s fleet, accounting for 3,500 vehicles, are dilapidated and in dire need of repair or replacement.
“Over one million citizens commute in the capital by bus every day. The sudden exclusion of old vehicles from the fleet will cause capacity deficiency and problems in terms of social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
“TBC needs state support to boost its services and meet the urban mobility demands. However, in the past several years, Tehran Municipality has been the only institution making efforts in this regard.”
Tarfa explained that since 2016, the government has not extended fiscal support for public transportation and the TM has been single-handedly and slowly streamlining the transport fleet.
The TBC chief noted that although small-scale renewals can help restore the ailing fleet, major projects are required for a substantial revival of the system.
“Around 5,700 buses are operating in the city, over half of which is at least 12 years old and ready to be phased out. The remaining vehicles are by no means efficient and only usable for a short period,” he said.
Tarfa noted that the transportation fleet has failed to attract private investors, “because investors seek productivity and profit, which cannot be found in the transportation sector”.
“The sector has a limited budget and operational capacity, while the dilapidation of vehicles has incurred losses,” he said.
