SAFRA to present the Businova at the next Public Transport Exhibition in Strasbourg

SAFRA, Société Albigeoise de Fabrication et de Réparation Automobile, was founded in 1955 by Roger Bodoira. The main activity of its Industrial Body Shop department is oriented towards the repair and renovation of all types of urban transport equipment, buses, subways, streetcars, trains… With this experience and know-how, SAFRA is now back in the business of manufacturing, an ambitious challenge for this Albigensian company. For several months now, SAFRA has launched an R&D project with the aim of designing an innovative vehicle… the Businova.

This concept bus will be officially presented and unveiled at the 23rd National Public Transport Meeting in Strasbourg, on Wednesday, October 12 at 11:30 am, followed by a press conference on Thursday, October 13 at 2:00 pm on the SAFRA stand.

Intended for French and European public transport networks, this bus will offer unequalled performance in terms of environmental friendliness, design, capacity and technology.

This bus with its elaborate lines combines two major innovations, both protected by patents. Its architecture (interior and exterior) has been designed to offer users a radically different travel experience. The project team has placed the user at the center of its thinking to offer an atypical and attractive bus, a true image for cities and their elected officials.

The innovation of this vehicle also concerns its technological aspect: its motorization remains the major point in terms of performance and efficiency, and will undoubtedly seduce the operators.

Selected by the Groupement des Autorités responsables des transports (GART), the project is also supported by the AGIR network, an association under the French law of 1901 that brings together urban transport organising authorities and independent transport companies. This project also benefits from the financial support of Oseo and the Caisse d’Epargne Business Center. In addition, the project is certified by the VIA MECA competitiveness cluster, an innovation gas pedal for the mechanical industry.

This project will be tested on the Toulouse Tisséo network in 2012, following a decision by the Syndicat Mixte des Transports en Communes de l’agglomération Toulousaine in September 2011. Mr Carreiras, elected representative of the Greater Toulouse Urban Community, will be present at the press conference.