Cluj will be the first city in Romania on the streets of which buses will run without a driver. The first autonomous buses could be brought to Cluj this year.
The statement belongs to Mayor Emil Boc, says ClujToday.ro. The tender for the purchase of autonomous buses is expected to be completed this spring.
Cluj-Napoca City Hall has already signed a contract with the Technical University from Cluj, through which the university offers technical advice for organizing the auction, for defining the selection criteria and the differentiating factors between the offers. The value of the contract, concluded last year, was 135,000 lei.
In Cluj-Napoca, autonomous buses will have a capacity of 10-12 seats. They will travel in downtown areas where no other means of public transport reach. Buses of this type have electric propulsion.
The value of an autonomous bus varies between 250,000 and 350,000 euros. If the project is successful, this type of transport would be extended to other areas of the city, with the help of European funds.
Emil Boc said he is also exploring the idea of buying other types of ecological buses. These are buses with hydrogen, a gas that, by burning, produces only water vapor. The mayor of Cluj claims that these buses are already safer than those with Diesel propulsion.
A hydrogen bus costs 650,000 euros. It is a state-of-the-art technology, and so far only 160 such buses have been produced in the world. Basically, hydrogen buses have, compared to electric ones, the advantage of fast charging. It’s seven minutes for a distance of 150 kilometers.
