Doha: The Ministry of Transport and Communications  (MOTC) has started the pilot testing of electric buses in Qatar in collaboration with Qatar General Electricity & Water Corporation (Kahramaa), Mowasalat “Karwa” and China Harbor Engineering Co.

This comes within Ministry’s ongoing endeavors to provide eco-friendly and sustainable transport modes that help reduce carbon emissions from public transport.

MOTC will assess the pilot testing, which is planned to continue for several months, to ensure electric buses suit Qatar’s weather conditions, before deploying them.

The testing comes in line with the ‘Green Vehicle Initiative’ jointly and cooperatively coordinated and launched by the Ministry of Energy and Industry, MOTC and Kahramaa. That Initiative is wrapped into Kahramaa’s wider National Program for Conservation and Energy Efficiency (Tarsheed).

“The Ministry places environment issues and energy efficiency at the top of its priorities and in all transport projects. It also supports all aspects of cooperation between government and non-government entities to reach to a clean environment and boost the culture of sustainable transportation,” it said in a statement.

Preparations for the electric buses pilot testing saw a great support from Kahramaa while Karwa carried out the actual testing operations.

The testing of the electric buses on Qatar streets, if proved successful, will support the diversification of the country’s public transport sector as it will provide vehicles that consume lesser energy and emit lesser carbon. It also promotes the use of more eco-friendly materials; something that helps strike the aspired-after economic and environmental balance in all transport infrastructure projects.