Czech Republic: Cutting pollution with electric buses

Cutting pollution with electric buses

Prague’s citizens and tourists can now contribute to cutting CO2 emissions in the city by taking the first electric bus in town, line 140. Ideas from Cyprus and Italy helped the City to launch electric bus trials and the purchase of a new fleet of buses.

Policy improved directly by the Managing Authority for EU Structural Funds in Prague.

© Kwan Fung (Unsplash)

The project ‘Innovations in Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans for low-carbon urban transport’ (InnovaSUMP) brings together nine partners from eight countries to decarbonise transport, which is the main source of CO2 in their cities. The partners are looking for innovative sustainable mobility solutions that will cut CO2 and air pollution and lead to a more sustainable use of energy.

The City of Prague joined the project with the objective of increasing the share of public, pedestrian and cycling traffic to above 70%. So the City has looked for new ways to make its public transport system more attractive and accessible as well as to discourage car use. This led the City to modify the Operational Programme Prague the Growth Pole of the Czech Republic, and to open two new calls on sustainable mobility and the smarter use of energy. The inspiration came from Cyprus and Italy. One call aimed specifically at pilot testing the electrification of the 140 bus line and was inspired by the project discussions in Cyprus on integrating mobility, energy and climate planning. The second call was for the purchase of the electric vehicles, and was inspired by the system in Ravenna, Italy. The overall allocation for the two calls was 13.6 million euros.

13,600,000 ERDF

© Andy Leung (Pixabay)

CZECH REPUBLIC