SAFRA, through its activity SAFRA Constructeur, participates for the second time in the World Summit on Public Transport organized by the UITP (International Union of Public Transport). This summit, which takes place every 2 years, is organized this year in Stockholm, Sweden, from June 10th to 12th. This event is an opportunity to gather the international public transport community, mobility decision makers and industry suppliers, with an important exhibition of vehicles. For the first time, SAFRA will present a Businova at this international exhibition.
Every two years, UITP chooses a new setting for the World Public Transport Summit. This edition is being held in Stockholm, Sweden, because of the city’s recent achievements in public transport as an art form, and that is precisely the theme of this summit: “The Art of Public Transport”. This event is an opportunity to show the different forms of art used in transportation, which contribute to increase and consolidate the attractiveness of the different modes of transportation. This argument is an integral part of the new sustainable mobility strategies, since the attractiveness of transportation contributes to the reduction of urban congestion, and therefore, has immediate effects on the improvement of air quality in the city.
It is in this context that SAFRA Constructeur, a French SME, exhibits a Businova, a vehicle with an atypical and surprising design with its 2-part chassis and 3 axles. Unique in its kind, the Businova benefits from an exceptional interior light and a panoramic view from the rear of the vehicle. This design has attracted many cities, including the Castres-Mazamet agglomeration, which recently received 3 new vehicles to complete its fleet, one of which is on display at the SAFRA stand during this exhibition. The agglomeration chose a rechargeable hybrid electric version, a very low-emission vehicle, which corresponds perfectly to the needs of cities in the transformation of their transport fleets, thanks to its ease of use.
The Businova is also offered in a zero-emission version, in a 100% electric version with a slow recharging system in the evening at the depot, or a fast one by reverse pantograph, but also in a Hydrogen version. In 2018 SAFRA Constructeur won the largest French public contract for hydrogen buses, becoming the first French manufacturer of hydrogen buses. Today, it is the entire range that SAFRA Constructeur has developed around the Businova brand, which perfectly meets the needs and regulations related to the energy transition, whether on the French market, with the Energy Transition Law, but also at the international level, with the revision of the European directive on clean vehicles.
In Businova news, several vehicles are now circulating in France, with Albi, Gaillac, Marseille, Périgueux and Castres-Mazamet. On the production side, SAFRA is currently manufacturing the 6 hydrogen vehicles purchased by the Artois-Gohelle agglomeration for an inauguration planned before the summer, and is preparing to manufacture 5 other vehicles for the BE GREEN company, which will operate these vehicles in Versailles, France. Other vehicle orders are also planned for production this year, for the Albi agglomeration as well as for the city of Le Mans. This participation in this International Summit is also an opportunity for the company to showcase its know-how and recent developments, and to meet its future customers and potential investors, as the company is ready to open its capital.