The Gibraltar Bus Company – Gibraltar

The Gibraltar Bus Company, a wholly owned company of Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar that works closely with and under the direction and policies of the Ministry for Tourism, Public Transport, The Port & Commercial Affairs; conducted a competitive tender process to supply lighting for some 56 bus stops across the Isthmus.

The Government is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and as such, The Gibraltar Bus Company was actively seeking to procure a low carbon, environmentally friendly solution.

Techtrolec was successful in securing the contract after recommending Zeta’s energy saving and emission-free Solar Shelter Lighting Kit. Office Manager Dee Curran explained: “I don’t believe we were the cheapest provider but the product offered by Zeta provided us with a huge competitive edge. It is a bespoke solar powered lighting solution for bus shelters.”

A specially manufactured, vandal resistant, solar panel is attached to the roof of the shelter which harnesses the sun’s energy throughout the day. The solar energy charges the in-built long life maintenance free batteries, which power high intensity LEDs to illuminate the shelters from dusk till dawn.

The system maintains a constant low level of illumination until a passenger enters the shelter and activates the built in Passive Infra-Red technology (PIR). The light levels gently increase and remain fully activated until the passenger leaves the immediate area.

The Government of Gibraltar is fully committed to the ideology of generating an increasing proportion of Gibraltar’s electricity from renewable energy sources. And Zeta’s solar powered solution supports that aim.

Together Zeta and Techtrolec provided The Gibraltar Bus Company with a cost-efficient, long-term sustainable solution and one which meets with the Government’s commitment towards delivering a greener more sustainable transport service.

The overall environmental impact of a solar powered scheme is much lower than one which utilises electricity – the cost (and time) to install are significantly less; in addition, ongoing running costs are zero – there are no additional energy bills to pay.

Installation is much faster and easier and as there was no requirement to connect to a mains supply, the CO2 emissions associated with laying cabling and putting an infrastructure in place were also completely avoided.

As outlined in my budget speech to Parliament earlier this year, I am delighted to see these enhancements to bus stops come to fruition. Not only does this fall in line with Her Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar’s eco-friendly drive, but it will also offer an added sense of security inside our bus stops in the darker hours of the day.
Neil Costa, MPMinister for Tourism, Commercial Affairs, Public Transport and the Port