Johannesburg buying 143 Scania buses for new transport system

Johannesburg buying 143 Scania buses for new transport system

Now that Johannesburg is making a major investment in the development of an
efficient, environmentally sound public bus concept in the run-up to hosting the
2010 World Cup in football, the city has selected Scania to supply all 143 buses
in the first phase of its new transport system. Crucial to the South African
city choice of Scania was that the company offered a comprehensive package,
including vehicles with good operating economy and environmental performance as
well as a broad selection of services. 



Johannesburg's investment in efficient public transport will utilise the Bus
Rapid Transit (BRT) concept, in which buses with high passenger capacity drive
in dedicated lanes on existing streets. This enables them to avoid traffic jams
and contributes to faster, more environmentally sound transport service.

“For Scania, this is an important breakthrough in South Africa's rapidly growing
city bus market,” says Christoffer Ljungner, Managing Director of Scania South
Africa. In Johannesburg alone, about 1,000 new buses will go into service in the
public transport fleet over the next four years, and the trend is similar in the
country's other major cities.

Scania has offered Johannesburg a service and maintenance agreement and will
also provide both driver and service technician training to the bus company's
employees.

The 143 buses, including 41 articulated buses and 102 conventional models, will
be made at Scania's production plant in Brazil and bodyworked by the Brazilian
company Marcopolo. They are part of the initial phase of the BRT system, which
will start up during the first half of 2009. The buses will be delivered this
year.  

The new BRT system which is called Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit is the single
largest initiative in Johannesburg's efforts to solve its growing transport and
environmental problems. The City is counting on a significant increase in public
transport use, while car traffic in central Johannesburg is expected to decrease
by at least 15 percent. The overall impact of these changes on the urban
environment will be very positive.

The city has set high standards for the environmental performance of the bus
engines. In collaboration with the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI),
Johannesburg concluded that these engines must meet the European Union's Euro 4
environmental standard. This is one level higher than the South African national
standard − Euro 3 − and implies a 60 percent reduction in particulate emissions
and a 30 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions compared to Euro 3.  

CCI, which was launched in 2006 by the U.S.-based Clinton Foundation, is an
initiative aimed at stimulating the business-like use of cleaner technological
solutions to reduce climate change in major cities around the world. 

The articulated buses, which are 18 metres long and have room for 112
passengers, will be equipped with Scania 9-litre, 310 hp Euro 4 engines. The
other buses are 12 metres long and accommodate 81 passengers. They will be
equipped with Scania 9-litre, 270 hp Euro 4 engines. All engines will feature
exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) technology, which reduces emissions during
actual combustion, thereby eliminating the need for aftertreatment equipment. 


For further information, please contact: Gunnar Boman, Corporate Relations, tel
+46 8 553 89510.















Scania is one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy
transport applications, and of industrial and marine engines. A growing
proportion of the company's operations consists of products and services in the
financial and service sectors, assuring Scania customers of cost-effective
transport solutions and maximum uptime. Employing 35,000 people, Scania operates
in about 100 countries. Research and development activities are concentrated in
Sweden, while production takes place in Europe and South America, with
facilities for global interchange of both components and complete vehicles. In
2007, invoiced sales totalled SEK 84.5 billion and net income amounted to SEK
8.6 billion. 

Scania press releases are available at www.scania.com