Two solar-powered buses will soon be put to the test on Phnom Penh’s bus line 1, City Hall spokesman Long Dimanche said yesterday.

The test buses will operate from 6am to 6pm, saving enough energy to run more than four hours at nighttime along the route, which goes south from Monivong Boulevard’s Kilometre 9 near the Japanese Friendship Bridge to Chbar Ampov district along National Road 1.

“If the process goes well, [City] Hall will consider making the transition to replace the old buses in order to reduce the use of gasoline,” Dimanche said.

City Hall launched three public bus lines at the start of September, using a fleet of 45 secondhand buses.

The launch date for the solar buses has not been announced, because signs and billboards need to be organised first, Dimanche said.

If the experiment is successful, Phnom Penh will not be the only Cambodian city with eco-friendly transport on the horizon, or even the first, as Siem Reap is expected to have a fleet of 50 solar-powered buses from the same company, Star8, starting early next year.