Electric Buses to Run on Local Routes
Route 70 and C1 to be converted as part of Mayor’s plan to tackle pollution
A local bus route will be served exclusively by electric buses from next Spring in plans announced by the Mayor this week.
36 new buses will be provided for routes C1 and 70 – which run between White City and Victoria and between South Kensington and Chiswick Business Park via Acton respectively – will take the total number of electric buses in London to 121 on top of the 2,000 hybrid electric buses. This is Europe’s largest electric bus fleet and the two routes will become the fifth and sixth to be served by these kind of bus in London. Electric buses produce no exhaust pipe emissions and are a more comfortable ride for passengers due to less noise and fewer vibrations.
An ultra-low emission bus
The new buses are part of Sadiq Khan’s package of proposed transport measures to cut air pollution, including introducing a £10 ‘T-charge’ for vehicles considered to cause the most pollution and expanding the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), as well as bringing forward the ULEZ start date.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “More than half of London's toxic air pollution is caused by road transport, and our oldest buses are one of the biggest contributors to harmful NOx emissions in central London.
"These new electric buses will eradicate harmful emissions and will have a significant impact on the quality of our air. And this is only the beginning – by 2018 we will stop buying diesel-only double-deck buses completely.
“I want London to become a world leader in hydrogen and electric bus technology and I hope other cities around the world will join me in sending the message that only the cleanest technologies are welcome where we live and work.”
TfL’s Managing Director of Surface Transport, Leon Daniels, said: “We’re delighted to be working with RATP to deliver greener buses for this city. They will help improve air quality and offer a better journey experience for customers. This is a momentous time as we help deliver the Mayor’s vision for cleaner, safer transport network.”
The Mayor’s has made a commitment to have 300 zero-emission single-deck buses serving the centre of London by 2020. Other measures include making sure all double-decker buses operating in the central Ultra Low Emission Zone comply a year earlier by 2019, meaning each of the 3,100 double-deck buses operating in the zone will be Euro VI hybrid. In addition the ULEZ retrofit programme is being expanded to up to 3,000 buses outside the central zone by 2020 (up from 800) and to 4,200 by 2021 (more than 5,000 in total). From 2018 only hybrid or zero-emission double-decker buses will be procured by TfL. London currently has more than 2,000 hybrid electric buses, representing around 20 per cent of the fleet.
12 Low Emission Bus Zones, operational by 2020, including one on the Uxbridge Road will see NOx emissions along particular routes fall by more than 80 per cent according to the Mayor’s office.
February 16, 2017