ENEL X and Arriva Italia to introduce 20 new vehicles for transportation of students with mobility needs

The new vehicles implemented in the fleet dedicated to school transportation of the more than 1,000 pupils with disabilities

Accelerating the electrification of local public transport by combining sustainability and inclusion and providing an essential service for students. These are the guidelines of the partnership between Enel X, Enel’s innovative business line, and Arriva Italia, the Italian holding company of the Arriva Group, thanks to which 20 new electric vehicles dedicated to school transportation for pupils with disabilities are operational. The new e-buses provided by Enel X through X Bus Italia, a joint venture with Infracapital, join the fleet of Arriva Italia, which, since January 10, 2022 and in partnership with Meditral, manages the transportation service for students with special educational needs and reduced mobility in the municipality of Roma Capitale.

“From today, Rome has a new opportunity at its disposal: thanks to the collaboration with Arriva we are putting on the road the first electric buses that will allow the movement of children with disabilities from different Institutes in the Capital,” says Francesco Venturini, Head of Enel X “This is a virtuous example of integration between innovation and inclusion of people who need special attention. We are convinced that our ‘bus as a service’ solution is the winning choice to finally make the public transportation fleet of local governments sustainable, and that this initiative will be the first of a long series across the country.”

“The inclusion of these new totally green vehicles is a goal we set ourselves from the very beginning, when we became responsible for the disabled transport service for the city of Rome. – says Angelo Costa, managing director of Arriva Italia – Sustainability was in fact another of our main focuses, along with efficiency and service optimization. The result of these first months of operation is undoubtedly positive, we want to continue to ensure excellence and improve where possible, also through greener choices.”

The project is one of the first examples in Italy of the “Bus as a service” model, the innovative solution developed by Enel X for the electrification of urban public transport, which offers energy per kilometers traveled: customers buy the electricity needed to cover the routes, thus ensuring efficient and sustainable service delivery. Enel X provides Arriva with a complete package that includes 20 electric buses; installation of a Medium/Low Voltage charge station; maintenance; and supply of energy from renewable sources. Thanks to Enel X Way, an Enel company dedicated to electric mobility, 10 e-bus charging infrastructures and the JuiceNet Manager dashboard for optimizing night time recharging are in place.

Each vehicle is equipped with specific and advanced equipment for transporting disabled users, including an automatic hydraulic lift for wheelchair loading. It is equipped with an AED defibrillator and an innovative telemedicine system that, in the event of a passenger’s sudden illness, allows on-the-spot diagnosis by comparing vital data with a central station manned by specialized physicians capable of assessing the severity of the situation in real time. To ensure maximum user safety on all vehicles there is also an internal video surveillance system.

The service provides for children to be met and put on the vehicle at their homes and accompanied to their institute, with a precise meeting point as the departure/arrival terminus where there will be the designated escort paid for by the City of Rome. It is the Municipality itself that certifies the proper performance of the service, through a geolocation system specially installed on all vehicles. Arriva Italia’s fleet dedicated to transporting disabled pupils in Rome has 254 drivers working on 567 routes and about 1,000 passengers per day.