Signatures were signed for 118 Yellow Lemons with environmentally friendly CNG, which will be added to the transportation fleet by Mersin Metropolitan Municipality. Mersin Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Vahap Seçer and KARSAN Otomotiv Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. According to the contract signed between CEO Okan Baş, the new buses will be delivered in September. Stating that 22 million Euros of the 7 million Euro financing to be provided from the EBRD for the purchase of the new bus will be a grant, President Seçer said, “It will become more enjoyable to travel in Mersin with our new buses.”
8,5 67-meter-long diesel attack buses for the countryside will be put into service in April
KARSAN officials and Metropolitan Municipality bureaucrats also attended the signing ceremony for the 118 CNG Fuel Bus Purchase Contract. President Seçer said that 252 vehicles served in public transportation when they took office, and the average age of these vehicles was 12,3. Sharing the details of Yellow Lemons and diesel attack buses that joined the fleet in 2021, President Seçer said, “When we took office; As of 2019, 252 vehicles were serving in public transportation. The average age of these vehicles was 12. In the literature, there is generally a 10-year age acceptance for vehicles to be used in public transportation, but this can be shifted back 1-2 years with good care. As you know, we brought our new lemons to our city in May last year. We put the majority of the 87 new Lemons into the service of our Mersin customers in May and the rest in September. When we took office, the number of vehicles in public transportation, which was 252, increased to 87 vehicles with the commissioning of 342 new Yellow Lemons. Since some vehicles are out of the system, we are currently continuing our services in public transportation with 342 vehicles. Last year, we made an important study again, for our rural lines and especially for our regions with narrow streets; especially Tarsus; We added 8,5 diesel attack buses with a length of 67 meters to our bus fleet. These vehicles will also be put into service as of April.
“118 new vehicles will enter the service of Mersin residents in 2022”
Sharing the technical details of 2022 Yellow Lemons to be put into service in 118, President Seçer said, “Today we are here for a very important, very valuable day. Here, we will sign a contract with our company, which will produce our buses, for 2022 new Limon buses that we will put into service in 118. Of these 118 buses, 84 are 12-meter solo buses and 34 are articulated buses. Our lemons, which are already in use, will enter the service of you, dear Mersin, in 118 as 2022 new vehicles. Our vehicles will start to be delivered in September. The total cost of these vehicles to us is 330 million 850 thousand TL," he said.
“The present value of the vehicles we offer and will offer to the people of Mersin is 712 million 62 thousand TL”
President Seçer also shared the total number and cost of the fleet in transportation with the new vehicles to be purchased, and said, “A total of 87; Our vehicles put into service in 2021. 67, which will be put into service again in April; As of the end of this year, 28 vehicles will be at the service of the people of Mersin, including our attack buses, of which 39 will be put into service in rural areas, 118 in Tarsus, and lastly, 272 buses. In total, the present value of the vehicles we have offered and will offer to the people of Mersin since the day we took office is 712 million 62 thousand TL.
Stating that the average age of public transportation vehicles will decrease with the Yellow Lemons that will join the fleet in 2022, Mayor Seçer said, “After all our vehicles are delivered, we will of course disable our vehicles whose economic life has expired, and the number of vehicles that will provide public transportation service will be 422 vehicles in total. The average age of our fleet will also decrease to 2.7. In other words, our average age, which was 12.3 when we took delivery, will be 2.7 with the introduction of our new vehicles, which is a very young fleet. Maybe there will be a fleet with an average age that is unmatched in Turkey. This is a first in Mersin," he said.
President Seçer reminded that they laid the foundation of Metro on January 3, 2022, on the 100th anniversary of Mersin's liberation, together with the people of Mersin, and said, “Good luck again. An important step has been taken in public transportation. Considering that our metro will be activated after 2026, along with our buses, our citizens in Mersin will now have the opportunity to travel in a comfortable, cheap, safe and fast public transportation system in the public transportation area.
“Women will be provided with positive discrimination in the recruitment of drivers to our municipality”
Stating that there are 806 bus drivers within the Metropolitan Municipality, Mayor Seçer also called for female driver candidates. Seçer said, “104 of our bus drivers are female drivers. You know, this year, 67 attack buses and 118 Limon buses will be commissioned, and we need a driver for them. I want to make an announcement to our women here; You know I care about our women. Learn to drive a bus. Get your driver's license, get the necessary documents, positive discrimination will be provided to you in the purchase of drivers for our municipality.
New Lemons will also provide comfortable transportation
President Seçer said that both they and the people of Mersin were satisfied with the buses provided by KARSAN, and said, “I would like to thank the officials of KARSAN company. They also provided us with our previous vehicles. We are extremely satisfied. The people of Mersin are happy. Our Atak buses will also be KARSAN. Our new upcoming lemons are the lemons of our KARSAN company, just like 87 Limon. Our color will still be the same. Its comfort and technology will be state-of-the-art. Again, we will have public transportation vehicles that will offer free Wi-Fi to our students.
President Seçer noted that Mersin is a student city and that there are 450 thousand students in the city, including university students, and said, “As I promised before, dear children, dear students, until 2024, that is, until my term of office expires, the bus fares will be 1 TL in Turkey. It will continue to be the cheapest public transportation fee," he said.
“22 million Euros of this 7 million Euro financing is a grant”
Stating that they financed the 118 new buses they brought to Mersin from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), President Seçer said, “Euro 22 million of this 7 million Euro financing will be provided in the form of grants and the repayment will be 2 years, with a 8-year grace period. In other words, the loans will be repaid within 10 years from the date we receive the buses. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the EBRD, all the friends who contributed to this study, the bureaucracy and the KARSAN company. I can say that it is a very good work for Mersin.”
“Traveling in Mersin will become more enjoyable with our new buses”
President Seçer is not just for a young fleet in transportation; In addition to this, he stated that they have a technological, comfortable and environmentally friendly valuable fleet and said, “It will become more enjoyable to travel in Mersin with our new buses. Mersin is a hot region. It is a hot city in summers. In an extremely comfortable cold environment in summer; They will have the opportunity to travel in a warm environment in rainy and cold weather in winter.” Stating that these buses are also important in terms of environmental problems, which are the most current problems of recent years, Seçer said, “Because these are CNG vehicles. Green-friendly, environmentally-friendly vehicles," he said.
KARSAN CEO Okan Baş: “Congratulations to the people of Mersin”
KARSAN Automotive Industry and Trade Inc. In his statement at the signing ceremony, CEO Okan Baş stated that they brought very good products to Mersin due to both rejuvenating the fleet and having the latest technologies, “We are both proud and this is an important responsibility for us. Because such a large fleet has started from Mersin in recent years. An important reference for us. We aim to reach other cities of Turkey with your satisfaction here. In this sense, we will take very good care of our vehicles. Together we will try to be worthy of the people of Mersin. I would like to thank you for choosing all your lemons as KARSAN since last year. I want to say good luck to everyone, to the people of Mersin," he said.
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