According to Peiman Sanandaji, the new vehicles will inject fresh blood into Tehran's old public transportation system in November, ISNA reported.
The public transportation fleet in the capital has 6,000 buses and minibuses, half of which are dilapidated, unusable and ready to head to the scrap yard. Some of the vehicles are over two decades old and have long outlived their usefulness.
Sanandaji emphasized that the import of secondhand buses should also be considered as an option for renovating the capital’s dilapidated fleet, according to Financial Tribune.
“Since the Iranian rial has lost almost 70% of its value over the past year and the country cannot afford to import new buses in large numbers, buying secondhand vehicles from other countries that meet emission and quality standards appears to be feasible,” he said.
The Iranian currency has lost 70% of its value in the past 10 months. On Saturday, the US dollar was traded at 150,000 rials in Tehran. In March 2018, it hardly fetched 42,000 rials.
TBC is negotiating its options with Industries Ministry officials. The ministry is in charge of vehicle imports.
Buses under 5 years of age are much cleaner than the smog-inducing clunkers currently plying the streets of Tehran.
Buses and minibuses account for 23% of urban transportation in the overcrowded metropolis.