Volgren’s parent company, Marcopolo, has launched a range of global biosafety measures designed to limit the spread of coronavirus and improve the safety of passengers, drivers and the general public.
Marcopolo BioSafe is a suite of products designed to make passenger travel safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. The products include FIP (fog in place) OnBoard, a dry fog that disinfects the inside of buses, trains or trams without using chemicals that are toxic to humans; protection kits for drivers; and UVC light technology to disinfect restrooms.
Australian bus body manufacturer Volgren is investigating how the products could be used in an Australian context.
CEO of Marcopolo, James Bellini, says the new concept promotes passenger biosafety while respecting the guidelines of health and government agencies.
“We live in a unique time where innovation and technology are coupled to safely resume mobility. With Marcopolo BioSafe, our objective is to put ourselves as partners of our customers both in Brazil and abroad, giving them the conditions to continue operating and regain their confidence in using public transportation,” he explains.
Bellini says he’s eager to show the technology in action to as many operators as possible, as quickly as possible.
“We need to act with urgency and proactivity to spread and foster the application of these important solutions. Public transportation is fundamental to ensure people’s mobility and cannot be seen as a bottleneck or a limitation.”
CEO of Volgren, Thiago Deiro, says that embedding biosafety measures into public transport is an important step towards restoring passenger confidence and will preserve the safety of the travelling public.
“COVID-19 has created challenges for many sectors. Public transport and student transport have been especially impacted. We believe that the measures developed under Marcopolo BioSafe could play an important role in helping Australia’s bus industry recover economically by making commuters and school children comfortable returning to bus travel.
Deiro says that the FIP OnBoard dry fog is a fast and reliable system that sanitises through nanoparticles, creating a nanofilm on 100 per cent of surfaces. It only takes 15 minutes on average to cover and sanitise an entire passenger area for up to 72 hours. The application doesn’t wet or dampen seats, or harm the buses electrical systems.
“Marcopolo’s fog in place system is also fascinating because it can be used not only in buses, but in many broad applications ranging from school classrooms, cafes and restaurants to public libraries. Being a father of two, I’d pretty much like to see school buses and even classrooms disinfected every day.”
“It’s a credit to Marcopolo that they’ve come up with such an innovative solution in such a relatively short period of time.”
Deiro says Volgren has been working with Marcopolo to roll out the BioSafe measures in its coach and route vehicles and is in discussions with customers and government operators to gauge interest.
