Artelia and Artelia Assist the Capital Area of Iceland on New Bus Rapid Transit Project

In order to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement (i.e. to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040), Iceland aims at significantly reducing carbon emissions from road transport. A critical action is to invest in infrastructure for increased bicycle, pedestrian and public transport in the capital area.

In this perspective, the Borgarlina is a visionary project for the capital area, creating in the long-run Bus Rapid Transit infrastructure that will serve the whole capital area of Iceland. The project is a realistic and eco-friendly option, improving both efficiency, reliability and accessibility of transport to meet the expectations of users. The future Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system will form the backbone of the capital’s public infrastructure and the ambition is to create one of the world’s most sustainable public transport system.

Taking up this challenge, five high level companies from France, Denmark and Iceland, have joined their forces to carry out the design of the Borgarlinan BRT project. Well-established in Iceland and rich from its international experience, Team Framtíðarlína will work hand in hand with the Icelandic Road and Costal Administration and municipalities to build a sustainable and innovative infrastructure for the capital area.

The current assignment is the Integrated Design Advisor for the first phase of Borgarlina, consisting of 14.5 km of BRT infrastructure, including approximately 25 stations. The project will begin in 2021 and the first 14.5 kilometer-phase is expected to be completed in 2025.

Leading the consortium, Artelia Group brings an excellent knowledge of BRT projects and many types of disciplines, gained through designing more than 175 km of BRT and 255 km of LRTs, in France and abroad. Artelia (Artelia Group) is an expert of sustainable infrastructure projects such as Greater Copenhagen Light Rail. Gottlieb Paludan Architects is known for designing infrastructure solutions such as light rails lines, BRTs and traffic hubs in several countries. Finally, Icelandic firms HNIT and YRKI are key to the team, providing local knowledge and in-depth understanding of the context.

The new BRT system will play a vital part in making Iceland capital area’s public transport close to CO₂-neutral and part of the project is to consider the opportunity for using hydrogen (or other alternative green energy) as the sole source of fuel, which Artelia has experience with from other BRT projects.

The Integrated Design Advisor mission is covering the following services for preliminary design and detailed design: civil engineering & transportation engineering, landscape & urban design and architecture, mobility & urban transport planning services, structural design, traffic signal services, utilities and environmental investigations and design.  According to Jean-Pierre Courel, Mobility & Infrastructure International Director of Artelia:

“We are very proud to be commissioned for this ambitious project, which will enable the development of efficient and environmentally friendly public transport. The strength of our team lies in close cooperation across countries, as well as combination of strong technical teams, involving architects and designers used to working in integration. All our expertise in public transport is fully mobilised to help the Icelandic authorities move towards a greener future. For Artelia Group, this success is a great satisfaction, as it confirms our strategy of expansion in the Nordic countries thanks to Artelia, affirming our position as one of Europe’s major engineering firms. ”