Tehran Municipality adds 1200 urban buses to its fleet. New buses, however, are indeed second-hand vehicles.
“Considering the current problems due to sanctions, the quickest way to replace our 10 to 12 years old buses is to import second-hand buses with 2 to 3 years of use”, explainsMohsen Pourseyed-Aghaii, Traffic Director of Tehran Municipality.
According to the Municipality, the government will finance half of these new buses from savings it makes at petroleum consumption. The rest is supposed to be paid by the private investors. However, low ticket prices push investors back.
“We know these buses are not ideal, however, they are definitely better than our very old buses currently commuting in the capital”, adds Mr Pourseyed-Aghaii. “We may buy up to 3000 second-hand buses. And hopefully if sanctions are lifted, we will be able to buy new buses”.
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