RIGA, June 5 (LETA) - Rigas Satiksme municipal transport company has received the first of the 17 ordered new electric buses, the company's spokeswoman Baiba Bartasevica-Feldmane told LETA.

These buses will be added to the existing fleet of 35 electric buses.

The remaining 16 electric buses are due to be delivered to Rigas Satiksme in June. Their delivery will be followed by testing. The new buses are expected to start running on passenger lines before the end of the summer.

Uline Rigas Satiksme's existing 35 electric buses, the new ones will have closed driver cabins, a video camera system instead of mirrors, as well as cutting-edge safety technologies - a a forward collision avoidance system and on-side blind spot radars.

The new electric buses will be charged using new EV charging infrastructure installed on Vestienas Street, ensuring 120 kilowatt charting capacity.

Work is underway to build seven fast charging stations in the city over the next year.

In early 2024, Riga Satiksme and the Central Finance and Contracting Agency (CFCA) signed a contract for co-financing from the European Union's (EU) Recovery and Resilience Facility to

implement the project in which the company is buying electric buses and developing EV charging points to cut emissions in Riga.

The project involves the purchase of 17 new electric buses and the construction of seven fast charging stations in Riga.

The total cost of the project is planned at EUR 16.7 million. Of this amount, EU co-funding will make up EUR 14.3 million.