After reaching Kaunas in mid-September, the new MAN Lion’s City 12 hybrid bus entered service on the streets of the city on Friday. The hybrid bus, setting the highest quality standards in Kaunas public transport, marks a record renewal of the Kaunas bus fleet. By mid-2021, 100 such modern buses, purchased for 23.5 million euro, will be rolling out onto the streets of the city.
The bar for quality has been raised high
“The future of public transport goes hand in hand with sustainable and green solutions. The changes and significant investments that have taken place over the last few years will not only reduce costs, noise and environmental pollution, but most importantly, ensure comfortable transport for Kaunas residents and visitors.
We are almost the first city in Europe to have such a number of modern hybrid buses and I think this is not the end. These changes set even higher standards for our city’s public transport,” Mayor of Kaunas Visvaldas Matijošaitis said about the latest purchase of buses by UAB Kauno autobusai.
Every day around 150,000-200,000 trips on city buses and trolleybuses are taken in Kaunas, therefore, when choosing a new supplier, important figures included the price-quality ratio and long-term fuel and maintenance costs.
After a public procurement tender lasting more than six months, UAB Kauno autobusai concluded a contract of 23.5 million euro with the German manufacturer’s representative in Lithuania, Adampolis, in November of last year, for one hundred MAN Lion’s City 12 buses. Such a large-scale purchase is a record in the history of the city of Kaunas.
Designed for passenger comfort
“Five years ago, we could only dream that we would be able to offer such a quality of service to our city’s residents and visitors. I am convinced that in a few years, after the implementation of all the major projects, our city’s public transport will be appreciated not only by Kaunas residents, but will also be seen as an example throughout the region,” said Mindaugas Grigelis, CEO of UAB Kauno autobusai, commenting on the ongoing changes.
The spacious, 100-passenger, hybrid MAN Lion’s City 12 bus has everything one can expect for increasingly demanding public transport passengers. For their comfort, the bus has a powerful heating system and air-conditioning system.
The vehicle designed by the engineers at MAN has 28 seats with a long-lasting, easy-to-clean wool fabric specially designed for Kaunas public transport, which is additionally covered with an antibacterial coating. Conveniences in the passenger area include USB connections for charging mobile devices.
With capacity for 72 standing passengers and a separate space for passengers using wheelchairs, the bus will receive passengers walking on a non-slip and attractive wood parquet imitation flooring. Stability and additional safety are provided by the oval-shaped hand-rails integrated into the design of the passenger area and arranged at different heights.
The MAN Lion’s City 12 bus is also suitable for people with disabilities, including those with impaired vision: two high-definition monitors and bright white LED route signs are installed on the bus.
The names of stops and other route-related information are announced by an eight-speaker system. Three wide double-doors will make it easier for passengers in wheelchairs and parents with babies in trolleys to enter the low-floor vehicle.
Quiet and environmentally friendly
Compared to the older buses running in Kaunas, the new MAN buses far outperform them. When the hybrid bus stops, the engine stops, improving the fuel economy and correspondingly reducing environmental pollution. All systems are powered by an efficient battery that helps the bus to move quietly from a standing stop. It is estimated that this technology will use as much as a third less fuel than conventional technology.
Hybrid buses are powered by modern Euro 6d engines with the latest MAN EfficientHybrid technology. Their CO2 emissions amount to about 790 grams per kilometre, but taking into account the weight of the vehicle and the number of passengers transported, the city’s new purchase is as much as 7 times more environmentally friendly than an average passenger car.
Staff at UAB Kauno autobusai joke that the bus will “clean the air” on the streets where traffic is busiest, because the concentration of the hybrid’s emissions will be lower than those emitted by the surrounding vehicles.
A modern braking system will make trips safer. The new generation of shock absorbers and independent front-wheel suspension will reduce to a minimum the feeling of unevenness caused by bumps in the road. The spacious and ergonomic driver’s cabin will also improve the working conditions for drivers. At the same time, it will act as an additional protective barrier against the possible spread of viruses or other infections.
Passenger safety will be increased by a system of four high-resolution cameras with a front-mounted dashcam to capture the view in front of the bus.
Immediately after the official introduction, the first MAN Lion’s City 12 hybrid bus joined other city buses on the streets. Kaunas residents can already try out this city purchase by taking the 29G route from the city centre to Kaunas airport, on the earliest and latest trips of the day.
Modernisation of the public transport system
Over the last 5 years, more than 65 million euro have been invested into renewing the bus and trolleybus fleet in Kaunas and the infrastructure serving them. In just a few years, 50 lower-capacity Mercedes-Benz and 25 Temsa LF12 buses and 85 Solaris trolleybuses were purchased.
A hundred new MAN Lion’s City 12 hybrid buses will make a significant addition to the existing fleet. Half of the hybrid buses will start transporting passengers in Kaunas as early as this year, while the manufacturer has pledged to deliver the rest by May of next year.
On behalf of Adampolis, I can say that we are very happy to contribute to such significant changes in the city of Kaunas. This product goes hand in hand with our vision as a group of companies. Clean electric technology is the future and we have every opportunity to realise that future. We very much hope that such a great initiative will be followed by other Lithuanian cities,” wrote Vidas Čebatavičius, the CEO of UAB Adampolis, describing his vision of the future.
Over the coming year, UAB Kauno autobusai plans to continue searching for alternatives to replace the city’s 78 oldest buses. At the moment, electric buses of several manufacturers are being explored and are planned to be tested. These include the Scania and Yutong models, known to produce extremely little noise and air pollution.
The main passenger carrier in the city of Kaunas constantly strives to modernise its fleet, route maps and schedule. In addition, in the near future it is planned to update the electronic ticket system and the Žiogas app developed by UAB Kauno autobusai, which is used to pay for more than half a million trips on city public transport each month.
