The Istanbul Electric Tram and Tunnel Company (IETT), the city’s public bus operator, presented the bus at a press conference last week.
The bus is the first of its kind to be used in Turkey for passenger transport.
Although the bus runs on gasoline, the solar panels power information screens, mobile phone charging outlets, WiFi connection, loudspeakers, cameras and electronic ticket units.
They also provide additional power for the bus’s battery and contribute to fuel efficiency. The bus was presented at a bus depot in the Topkapı district, the bus route’s first station, and will continue on to Eminönü, a busy commercial hub in Istanbul’s historic peninsula with landmarks such as the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia. The İETT already introduced another environmentally friendly bus last year.
Botobus, a “botanic” bus, running between Edirnekapı and Taksim, with plants on its roof to help to offset the carbon emissions the bus generates. Turkey is seeking to increase its renewable energy use and has an annual solar power capacity of 380 billion kilowatt hours, one of the highest in Europe.
Image source: IETT
