Dijon orders 102 new hybrid buses in PPP deal

25 June 2012 - The authorities of Greater Dijon, France, have signed a joint partnership with Heuliez Bus and Barclays, as part of a public private partnership (PPP) for the purchase of 102 hybrid buses, the first time PPP has been used to fund new buses. This is the largest order of this type of vehicles in France. It is worth 88 million Euros and includes 61 articulated and 41 standard buses. 

"The PPP allows us to share the risks between the operator, the local authority and the manufacturer. We signed an agreement in which everyone is interested in the success of the contract, particularly in terms of fuel economy" said André Gervais, deputy mayor of Dijon in charge of travel within Greater Dijon. 

Heuliez agreed performance commitments for fuel consumption, noise and availability of the hybridisation chain. Penalties become payable if the company fails to meet these commitments.

"We have moved to hybrid technology for environmental reason. We expect gains in fuel consumption and reductions in emissions by 20 to 30%. Another very important advantage for a densely built area like Dijon is the noise reduction. The hybrid buses are much quieter. They have a start and stop function which switches the engine off when setting down and picking up passengers, only switching itself back on when required to power the bus again."

At the same time, Dijon will abandon its 65 natural gas buses (CNG), which are seen as being unnecessarily complicated and with high infrastructure costs.