Reolian Public Transport Co. (, Portuguese: Sociedade de Transportes Públicos Reolian, SA) was one of the three Bus Public Transport Operators of Macau along with Transmac (Transportes Urbanos de Macau) and TCM (Sociedade de Transportes Colectivos de Macau).
The company was a joint venture between Veolia Transport RATP Asia (VTRA) and a company in Macau, the HN Group. It was declared to file with bankruptcy by the Macau judiciary on December 4, 2013. All bus routes and vehicles previously operated by Reolian were taken over by Macau Nova Era de Autocarros Públicos (known as Macau New Era Public Bus Co in English) with effect on July 1, 2014.
History Reolian was founded in 2009 after an invitation to a tender organized by the government of Macau. One of the objectives of the tender was to liberalize the public bus service market by opening the market to more bus operators by grouping the 60 Macau bus lines into five different sections. In this configuration, up to five different bus operators would have the chance to operate.
After the tender result, Reolian was selected to operate three of the five sections available. The remaining two sections were granted to Transmac. The Sociedade de Transportes Colectivos de Macau (TCM) was initially disqualified for arriving four minutes late in handling its proposal. After several months of legal battles between the government and TCM, an agreement was reached between all parties on August 13. In exchange for TCM dropping all lawsuits contesting the government's handling of the tendering process, Reolian was deprived from one of its awarded section.
Prior to operations, Reolian declared that it was facing some difficulties in recruiting the 400 drivers necessary to operate properly the 26 bus lines it was awarded. On August 1, 2011, Reolian officially started its public transport service with 250 drivers instead of the planned 400. The Transport Department therefore asked the other two selected operators, Transmac and TCM, to support Reolian with some additional services on four lines until additional drivers could be hired.
In September 2011, Reolian increased the wage of its drivers by 30% to accelerate its recruitment process. Sixty additional drivers, coming from two other public operators and private shuttle industries, were recruited following this decision. This put an end to the support provided by the other two operators. At the end of the month, Reolian had 390 drivers, 40% of whom were recruited from outside the public transport industry.
The driver turnover rate during the first three months of operation was 20%, which was still affecting its stability.
Unfortunately, the service of Reolian was considered as unsatisfactory; the Yutong minibus (ZK6770HG) could not meet the operational requirement in Macau streets and was always seen broken down on the road. Moreover, the largest bus model in the fleet (ZK6118HGE), with its 10.5m in length, could not satisfy the demand on routes 3 and 10 and was known to be the worst bus operator in Macau.
Since route H1 could only serve on the Yutong minibus (ZK6770HG), Reolian tried to improve the service by removing a rear seat from the back, installing handrails on the doors and widening the step
In February 2012, Reolian took part in the Google Transit program. This public transport route planner for Macau was launched. The data of Macau's 58 regular bus lines (excluding special lines) was integrated into Google Maps.
In January 2013, Reolian's Maintenance Center was awarded with the Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series – OHSAS 18001 Certificate. Reolian was the first public transport company in Macau to receive the certification.
On October 1, 2013, Reolian declared to file for bankruptcy and was taken over by D.S.A.T until the end of April, 2014.
On July 1, 2014, a bus operator named Macau Nova Era de Autocarros Públicos, SA (with TCM as its majority owner) was created in July 2014. New Era took over all assets and routes previously operated by Reolian. Until August 1, 2018, when New Era and TCM merged companies and formed to become the biggest bus operator in Macau.
Fleet Reolian had a fleet of 245 newly equipped buses. Thirty percent of Reolian buses were low entry.
Operating fleet before ceasing operations Bus Model Class Number Quantities Entered Service Length PassengerCapacity Operating on bus route Remarks Yutong GroupZK6118HGE 3001-3087 87 2011/8 10.6m 69 1 – 3 – 3X – 10 – 10X – 30 – MT1 – MT2 Low entry with wheelchair parking bay 3002 was originally classed as L002 Yutong GroupZK6902HG 2001-2070 70 2011/8 9.6m 68 3A – 10A – 10B – 11 – 28A – 50 Two step entry 2001 was originally classed as M001 Yutong GroupZK6770HG 1001-1088 88 2011/8 7m 36 8 – 8A – 18 – 21A – 23 – 27 – 28B – 28BX – 35 – 36 – 50X – H1 Three step entry 1001 was originally classed as S001
Non-operating fleet Bus Model Class Number Quantities Entered Service Length PassengerCapacity Operating on bus route Remarks YoungmanJNP6105GR None 1 None 10.53m 77 None Did not operate in Macau YoungmanJNP6930GR None 1 None 9.8m 68 None Did not operate in Macau YoungmanJNP6770GR None 1 None 7.7m 41 None Did not operate in Macau Yutong GroupZK6128HG1 3088 1 2013/11 12m 75 3 Operated in Macau as a trial in 2013, and returned to Hong Kong in 2014.
All buses were equipped with air-conditiong, LED screens for passenger information, two-leaf doors (entrance and exit doors), automatic gears, and a GPS system.
Routes Reolian operated 27 of the 62 public bus lines in Macau:
Type of service Normal Route Route operated all week, generally from 6am until midnight Express Route Route only operated from 7am to 9am from Monday to Saturday Special Route Route only available for a certain period. Line 31 was only available during the training, first and second day of Macau Grand Prix)
Key ~ Fare depending on the origin, only the maximum fare is indicated here ↺ indicates that the Route is circular
Bus routes operated by Reolian Route Start End Fare Type of service Route 1 Portas Do CercoBarra MOP$3.2Normal Route Route 3 Portas Do CercoTerminal MaritimoMOP$3.2Normal Route Route 3A Portas Do CercoP.Ponte HortaMOP$3.2Normal Route Route 3X AV. ALM. Lacerda/Ouvidor ArriagaPraça Ferreira Amaral MOP$3.2 Express Route Route 8 Estrada Ilha VerdeJai AlaiMOP$3.2Normal Route Route 8A Estrada Ilha VerdePraça Ferreira Amaral ↺MOP$3.2Normal Route Route 10 Portas Do CercoBarraMOP$3.2Normal Route Route 10A Terminal MaritimoBarraMOP$3.2Normal Route Route 10BPortas Do CercoPraia Grande ↺MOP$3.2Normal Route Route 10X Portas Do CercoPraça Ferreira AmaralMOP$3.2Express Route Route 11 BarraTaipa ↺MOP$4.2 ~Normal Route Route 18 Portas Do CercoBarraMOP$3.2Normal Route Route 21A BarraKa-Ho Fuel Oil TerminalMOP$6.4 ~Normal Route Route 23 Estrada Ilha VerdeTorre De Macau ↺MOP$3.2Normal Route Route 27 Estrada Ilha VerdeAreia Preta ↺MOP$3.2Normal Route Route 28A Terminal MaritimoTaipa ↺MOP$4.2Normal Route Route 28B Estrada Ilha VerdeTemple A-Ma ↺MOP$3.2Normal Route Route 28BX Estrada Ilha VerdePraça Ferreira Amaral ↺MOP$3.2Normal Route Route 30 Rua Lei Pou ChonTaipa ↺MOP$4.2 ~Normal Route Route 31 ForumTerminal Maritimo ↺FreeSpecial Route Route 35 Rotunda Leonel SousaCentro A. E Exames De Condução ↺MOP$2.8Normal Route Route 36 Rotunda Leonel SousaAeroporto de Macau ↺MOP$2.8Normal Route Route 50 Praça Ferreira AmaralVila De ColoaneMOP$6.4 ~Normal Route Route 50X Praça Ferreira AmaralCentro A. E Exames De ConduçãoMOP$4.2 ~Normal Route Route 55 Seac Pai VanBarraMOP ? ~Normal Route Route H1 Hospital S. JanuárioRua do Campo ↺MOP$3.2Normal Route Route MT1 Praceta 24 De JunhoAeroporto de Macau ↺MOP$4.2 ~Normal Route Route MT2 Praceta 24 De JunhoAeroporto de Macau ↺MOP$4.2 ~Normal Route
See also Transmac Transportas Companhia de Macau Transport in Macau
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