London’s bus fleet is on track to be one of the greenest in Europe following the introduction of the 300th hybrid bus into its fleet. One thousand hybrid buses are set to be introduced to London’s streets in the next four years as part of the Mayor’s plans to improve air quality.
The 300th hybrid bus is now in service on route 211 between Waterloo and Hammersmith. A further 104 hybrid buses are on order using £5 million funding from the Department for Transport. This grant was initially set to finance 70 buses, but Transport for London has managed, through good negotiation and increased market confidence in hybrid buses, to increase this order so that, in total, over 400 of these less polluting vehicles will be in service by next year.
In addition the Mayor of London has committed to taking delivery of 600 of the new bus forLondonvehicles, seven of which are already in service on Route 38. These hop-on hop-off vehicles boast the latest hybrid technology, cutting emissions by half compared to a standard diesel bus. Combined, this means at least 1,000 hybrid buses will be on the capital’s streets by 2016 joined by nearly 1,000 buses fitted with equipment to cut pollution, specifically NOx.
Hybrid technology, which combines batteries, a conventional diesel engine and an electric motor to propel the bus was first trialled by TfL in 2006. Since then the diesel-electric hybrid fleet has doubled year on year reflecting greater confidence with operating hybrid technology and impressive fuel savings and operational performance.
The diesel-electric hybrid buses deliver impressive fuel savings of 30 per cent reducing operational costs for TfL but also a 20 per cent reduction in NOx delivering environmental benefits for Londoners. The technology also helps to cut pollution and carbon emissions.