On the third day of COP 16, the Minister of Transportation, María Constanza García Alicastro, announced the signing of an agreement to begin the transition to electric taxis in the special district of Santiago de Cali and in the municipalities of Palmira, Yumbo, and Jamundí, which are part of the Regional Transport Authority of the department.
“These projects are very important because they will allow the transport sector to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and are in line with the discussions taking place at COP 16,” stated Minister García Alicastro.
“We have a commitment to reduce CO2 emissions. In that sense, and through the Technological Advancement Fund, we have set a goal of reducing 5.6 million tons, which involves the replacement of the vehicle fleet,” she continued.
Colombia Towards Massive Electrification
The goal of this initiative is for drivers to access resources to modernize their vehicles to zero-emission technologies, under two key conditions: the replacement will be done on a one-to-one basis, meaning that for every combustion vehicle taken out of circulation, one electric vehicle will be introduced. This guarantees that the vehicle fleet will not increase in size.
The next step involves the characterization of taxi owners, while starting a dialogue with various key stakeholders.
These include vehicle manufacturers, energy marketers, and infrastructure producers, who will play a fundamental role in supporting and developing the program.
Thus, investments in vehicles are expected to exceed $35.5 billion over a horizon extending to 2030.
Regarding the process of contracting the fiduciary society that will establish the autonomous heritage and financially manage the resources, the bidding process was initiated on October 11, which is projected to be awarded in the second half of November.
