With the trials of electric buses on the Transmetro’s Green Line underway, the Guatemalan capital’s government plans to further expand the number of zero-emission units. In pursuit of its goal, it has begun efforts to draft the corresponding legislation.

«We are thinking about restructuring urban buses. This may take us a little more time because we need to know more about the long-term maintenance of electric buses and the behaviour of prices,» says Eddy Morataya, the city’s Director of Urban Mobility.

He adds: «Likewise, we are already considering that a percentage of the buses in Guatemala should also be electric».

He also says that legislation is needed, for example, to regulate the import of inputs and to expand the charging network.

In this regard, the authorities have teamed up with the Guatemalan Electric Mobility Association (AMEGUA) to develop a set of regulations for the development of electromobility in the capital.

It is essential that the rules of the game are clear, because «many companies already have their eyes on the Transmetro trials».

«Large fleets that provide services are very interested in knowing the savings that the buses will represent in order to improve operations and costs in the future,» warns Morataya.

Moreover, buses are not the only mode of transport looking towards electrification. In fact, the urban mobility plan projects to develop the micro-mobility segment and other technologies such as the Aerometro, which passed its second reading in Congress.

Currently, Guatemala City is working on a tender for 40 kilometres of bicycle lanes, which will connect Transmetro stations with areas that attract a lot of travel, such as Zona 10.

«It’s a gateway to micromobility and electromobility. We have already tested scooters, a segment previously unknown to us. Another project that is going to be awakened will be shared bicycles, which could also be electric,» concludes Morataya in the Real Estate Republic webinar.

Transmetro line 5

On 18 January, the capital’s municipal government presented Line 5 of the Transmetro, known as Linea Verde, which will have electric units that will be tested for the next three months.

According to Mayor Ricardo Quiñonez, they are 12 metres long and have a capacity for 50 passengers. It is intended to benefit 40,000 users.

The line will be 12 kilometres long from Parque Colón, it will pass over the bridge of La Asunción, then to Muñecón to go down to 24th street and arrive at the Municipality of Guatemala.

The project consists of three stages: design, testing with the electric bus model, contracting and importation of the units to begin operation. The whole process is expected to take between 10 and 12 months.

The president indicated that each vehicle costs approximately 300,000 dollars, which is higher than the diesel ones. However, thanks to their maintenance and service life, there will be a saving of 60 per cent over a period of 10 to 12 years.

Meanwhile, the total cost of implementing the Green Line is about Q20 million.

Current tests will seek to determine acceleration and braking capacity, travel time, frequencies, approach to stations, battery life in transit, travel on slopes and charge regeneration.