BUSWORLD TURKEY 2020
The eighth edition of Busworld Turkey (2020) highlighted rising bus and coach electrification.
Opening its doors to the public on March 05, 2020, the eighth edition of Busworld Turkey (2020) attracted 7935 visitors from various parts of the globe. The turnout in this edition as compared to the 2018 edition, which was held at Izmir, was roughly 30 per cent more. Successful in highlighting its international flair against a backdrop of Novel
Coronavirus, the biennial fair, held at the Istanbul Expo Center, drew 128 exhibitors. Of these were leading bus and coach builders like Anadolu Isuzu, Karsan and Otokar. If the absence of key players like Temsa and BMC was felt, a large contingent of bus components suppliers found their way to the show as well. They came from various places like China, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Taiwan.
While the key global aggregate suppliers that participated were Cummins, Allison Transmission and Voith, the long list of homegrown suppliers included companies like Makro Tekstil, GRL A.S., Inova Otomotiv, Dora Otomotive, Global Gas Springs, Hafex Aerosol Systems, Pinel Otomotiv, Mutlu Aku, Agyersan, General Teknik, MRC Otomotiv, Oto Numune, and Engin Oto. Highlighting Turkey’s status as the leading bus industry destination in Europe, these suppliers also put the spotlight on Turkey’s culture of modern manufacture and innovation that is growing in the country. If the larger turnout of electronic components suppliers hinted at the change, the nature of the buses and coaches displayed at the fair pointed at a rising shift towards electrification.
With zero emissions on the agenda, Busworld Turkey 2020, highlighted a significant shift at the supplier as well as at the bus and coach manufacturing level. Over 35 vehicles were displayed. These came in various types and guises; in various forms to support a sustainable and efficient transportation ecosystem. Stressing on how advanced the Turkish bus and coach industry is, and how it is transforming, the fair, expressed Vincent Dewaele, CEO, Busworld International, was worthy of being described as the second biggest exhibition in their portfolio. Busworld International’s first exhibition in the current calendar year, Busworld Turkey (2020) occupied a space of 6868 sq. m.
Spread across two of the 11 exhibition halls the Istanbul Expo Center has to offer, the expo turned out to be quite effective. Providing a platform
to the stakeholders of the international bus and coach industry to conduct business, the fair highlighted a distinct shift taking place in the Turkish market as well as the European and Asian markets surrounding it. Mentioned Fatih Tamay, Head, International Passenger Transport Union (IPRU), in his inaugural speech, “Smart mobility, electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, carbon footprint, smart navigations system, smart payments systems, accessibility, safety, smart lighting, smart air-conditioning and information sharing will form an important part of sustainable people mobility in the future.” He stressed on smart cities deploying electric buses for public transport.
Announcing that his association is taking steps to usher new buses in a bid to improve people’s mobility in Turkey, Ercan Soydaş, Chairman, TOHOB, averred that his country is a major exporter of buses and coaches. It is supported by a strong manufacturing base, he added. The strength of Turkey’s manufacturing industry was aptly highlighted through the conferences the Busworld Academy conducted simultaneously. While the rides arranged by Karsan in its Jest 100 per cent electric bus added to the premise, the views and information exchanged by industry stakeholders at the conferences highlighted the significant shift taking place at various levels. Said Mustafa Yıldırım, Chairman of the Turkish Road Transport Sector Council, in his speech at one of the conferences, that there was a need to innovate; to deploy innovative technologies for zero-emission bus services in cities as an effort to improve quality of life. Of much interest turned out to be the conference on the bus and coach market in Turkey with Debashish
Bhattacharjee, Human Settlements Officer (water and sanitation), UN-HABITAT, Choudhury Rudra Charan Mohanty, Environment Programme Coordinator, UNCRD, and Mohamed Saadieh, President, UCLG-MEWA, as the participants.
If the conference on the bus and coach market in Turkey drew a comparison with East European and West Asian markets in terms of the implementation of future-oriented bus systems, the conference organised by UCLG-MEWA stressed on urban mobility and how it could be of advantage to the local governments. Sergio Avelleda, Director, World Resource Institute, a global research organisation working on six critical goals that the world must achieve in this decade to secure a sustainable future, spoke about the barriers that are making it challenging to adopt e-buses. He spoke about a strategy to deal with the challenges as well.