Open Tour, the RATP Dev subsidiary and leader in hop-on, hop-off double-decker buses in Paris, is going electric. The world-first will be presented at BusWorld in Courtrai, Belgium, on 19 October. The first electric bus will enter service on network lines by the end of the year.
Extrapolitan alliance member Open Tour Paris has teamed up with the manufacturer UNVI to design the first 100%-electric, double-decker, open-topped bus. As a first for the market, the 12-metre vehicle can carry up to 75 passengers. Its range of 150 km per day means it can make up to 250 stops to enable passengers to hop on and off as they please. The entire Open Tour Paris fleet, comprising 40 vehicles, will be converted to electricity by 2024.
“Committed alongside the City of Paris authorities and the ADEME environmental agency to more sustainable mobility, Open Tour Paris has been reducing its CO2 emissions for many years thanks in particular to eco-driving training for drivers and parking its vehicles in the centre of Paris to optimise journeys to depots. We are proud today to be the first sightseeing network to offer our customers an innovative and sustainable service on board this 100%-electric bus”, stated Open Tour Paris Director Fabrice Bayon.
This innovation is part of the RATP Group's approach, committed to a major technological and ecological evolution with the objective of converting 100% of its fleet by 2025 for Ile-de-France and two fully electric lines in London in 2018.
The Group already operates nearly 900 hybrid buses, 55 electric buses and 140 buses using natural gas in several cities in France and abroad.