ABC #395

NEWS
VOLGREN ANTI-VIRUS
‘FOG’ TECH TO IMPROVE
BUS BIOSAFETY
WITH FAR WIDER applications
than just buses, Volgren is to bring
a suite of anti-virus solutions for
Covid-19 into Australia to improve
biosafety for passengers, the
company has announced.
Volgren’s parent company,
Marcopolo, has recently launched a
range of global biosafety measures
designed to limit the spread of
Covid-19 coronavirus and improve
the safety of bus passengers, drivers
and the general public, it states.
Known as ‘Marcopolo BioSafe’,
the suite of products includes:
Fog In Place (FIP) 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 explained.
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.”
NOT JUST BUSES!
Volgren CEO 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,” he said.
“We believe that the measures
developed under Marcopolo
BioSafe could play an important
role in helping Australia’s bus
Below:
Australian
bus body
manufacturer
Volgren is
investigating how
parent company
Marcopolo’s
BioSafe products
could be used
in an Australian
context, it says.
industry recover economically by
making commuters and school
children comfortable returning to
bus travel.”
Deiro says 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,
he adds.
“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,”
Deiro explained.
“Being a father of two, I’d pretty
much like to see school buses and
even classrooms disinfected on a
routine basis.”
“It’s a credit to Marcopolo that
they’ve come up with such an
innovative solution in such a
relatively short period of time,”
he added.
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.
“Public transportation
is fundamental to
ensure people’s
mobility.”
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ABC July 2020 busnews.com.au