The STIB board has designated the future contractor for the hop-on/hop-off sightseeing transport service in Brussels, selecting RATP Dev. Sightseeing routes will be run within a year using a fleet of twelve new electric buses.
Both tourists and the inhabitants of Brussels know the double-deckers that for nearly twenty years have catered to points of interest in the Brussels-Capital region and make it possible to enjoy the city at one’s own pace using the hop-on/hop-off principle with multilingual audio commentary.
The STIB board has designated the company that will have an exclusive concession for the bus transport service for eight years. The company is RATP Dev, which already runs services of this kind in Paris, London and more.
The contractor will be tasked with the full-year running of hop-on/hop-off sightseeing routes in the form of regular transport services. (This entails ensuring regular routes, points of interest and pre-defined timetables.) Service will use exclusively electric buses; a total of twelve 100%-electric, double-decker buses will operate along these routes, a world-first in hop-on/hop-off sightseeing.
“Both the regional authority and the STIB want the environmental footprint of the sightseeing service to be as small as possible. This is why the specifications for this public service concession required exclusive use of electric buses. RATP Dev will, therefore, acquire a brand new fleet of totally electric, silent, zero-emission, sightseeing buses specifically for Brussels,” stated STIB CEO Brieuc de Meeûs.
“The red buses will go green, and that’s great news! We’re proud that Brussels is to become the first city to welcome the iconic sightseeing buses in their silent, environmentally-friendly version. The change in the city is underway,” said Brussels Minister in charge of mobility, Elke Van den Brandt.
RATP Dev will begin operating hop-on/hop-off buses no later than February 2021, 52 weeks after notification of the concession agreement. In the meantime, the red buses of the current contractor, Brussels Sightseeing, will continue to welcome tourists on board and show them the sights in Brussels.