That was the question that circulated in the community of Mont-de-Marsan during European Mobility Week to announce the launch of the brand-new city center shuttle which runs on CNG (Compressed Natural Gas).
This first urban shuttle running on natural gas was unveiled during the public transportation day, Saturday, September 19, 2020, on Place Saint-Roch, in the presence of the President of Mont-de-Marsan Agglomeration, Charles Dayot, and the key elected officials of the surrounding communities.
Many public transit vehicles, such as buses or coaches, already run on natural gas, but this technology has never been offered for small vehicles. The reason for this is the space taken up by the gas tanks and their consequent weight, which makes it difficult to fit 35-seater vehicles.
From 2018, following the presentation of the manufacturer Trouillet at the European Mobility Show, Transdev in Marsan positioned itself, in full response to a call for tenders, to provide Mont-de-Marsan community with this new vehicle in order to serve the city center. A virtuous opportunity for this agglomeration which has had a private CNG station (Sortino) since 2017, located in Saint-Pierre-du-Mont.
Now in service, the “green” shuttle carries around 120 passengers per day free of charge, with on-demand operation for customers. Transdev du Marsan thus hopes that this new transport offer at CNG will delight current passengers on the local transit network and attract new passengers, concerned about the carbon footprint associated with their journeys.
The service in numbers:
- Monday to Saturday, operations between 7:30am. to 7pm
- Frequency of 20 minutes
- Average consumption: 18.7 kg per 100 km
- Average range: 235 km
- Reload time: less than 5 minutes
CNG is less polluting:
- 95% fine particles
- 50% of NOx (nitrogen oxides)
- 80% CO2 emissions compared to a latest generation diesel vehicle
More info on www.bustma.com