Electric buses towards a cleaner and liveable metropolis

The C40 Cities Finance Facility is supporting Guadalajara’s Metropolitan Area by developing the necessary feasibility studies for a new bus corridor project, which will include a fleet of electric buses on a feeder route of Mi Macro Periférico. The new bus corridor will be 28km long and serve an estimated 23,000 pax/day, providing connections with two Light Train lines and be able to cover the service where the trunk route won’t run. The buses will improve connections between low-income neighborhoods and support the public transport services in a development area in the east of the Metropolis.

The project aligns with the public transportation priorities and plans of the current Jalisco State Government (2018-2024) focusing on developing an Integrated Model of Mobility, which main objectives are recovering the leadership of public transportation and reorganize it in order to provide an interconnected, efficient and quality system.

An important axis of this plan is ‘Mi Macro Periférico’ project which will have a trunk, complementary and feeder routes. The Transport Secretary (SETRANS) is leading the project´s implementation and willing to introduce electric buses in on the feeder routes of this integrated system, while CFF is currently providing the following technical support:

• Dedicated technical advisor supporting the city administration;
• Financing the technical studies needed to make the project bankable;
• Exploring potential financing and funding structures for the construction and operation of the bus corridor;
• Scoping available electric bus technologies and supporting the structure of the tendering basis;
• Developing partnerships with multilateral banks to provide technical support.

Guadalajara City is developing its Climate Adaptation Plan. In 2019, Jalisco’s Mayor Enrique Alfaro announced the commitment of providing a sufficient budget for developing transportation projects during the current administration with financing support from different sources (Federal, State, and International), which should cover infrastructure, as well as fleet renewal.

 ‘Mi Macro Periférico’ will have support from other international agencies like IDB, which it will be possible to attend and recover public spaces and urban development around the corridors (trunk, complementary and feeder ones).

The CFF aims to deliver a replicable and innovative model of how to finance clean buses in developing countries and emerging economies.