End of the road for London's diesel buses

[ooo]

End of the road for London's 'dirty' diesel buses

7 hours ago

London mayor Sadiq Khan has announced "dirty" diesel double-decker buses will be phased out from the capital's current bus fleet from 2018.

It comes as the mayor unveiled London's first double-decker hydrogen bus.

Mr Khan also said all new single-decker buses operating in central London would be electric or hydrogen.

City Hall believes "greener" buses will reduce air pollution in the capital, long exposure to which is estimated to*cause 9,400 premature deaths a year.

The mayor wants all London buses to meet the*Ultra-Low Emission Zone*standard by the end of 2020.

At least 20 new hydrogen buses will take to London's streets as part of a £10m part-European Union (EU) funded project supporting hydrogen technology.

Transport for London (TfL) will also provide at least £5m in funding.

The new hydrogen double-decker buses will be trialled on London's roads next year while a further 300 "zero emission" buses will be on London's streets by 2020.

Eleven major cities around the world are phasing out diesel buses alongside London

Eleven other major cities - including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Cape Town - also plan to phase out diesel buses by the end of 2020.

Paris, Madrid and Mexico City have committed to removing diesel buses from their cities by 2025.

Mr Khan, said: "I want London to become a world leader in hydrogen and electric bus technology.

"Transforming London's bus fleet by accelerating the introduction of zero-emission buses is important and I plan to work with bus manufacturers, other cities, the European Commission and the C40 Climate Change Leadership Group of Cities to move this agenda forward."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38157860
Sounds like a good move to help reduce air pollution although I imagine it could be quite costly.

 

[overthewater]

Just means there be a flood of decent newish deckers on the market.

 

[randyrippley]

He's going to have to sell off the Borismasters at a fraction of the book price.....assuming anyone wants to buy such a complex design. To get rid he'll have to virtually give them away
The financial write-off will be horrendous, and where is the cash for the new vehicles going to come from?

 

[THarris123]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38157860
Sounds like a good move to help reduce air pollution although I imagine it could be quite costly.

It is a good move, but will it reduce the emissions in London? Considering there are still so many cars on the road, surely a priority should be to increase congestion charge, then worry about the buses? Remember that you can fit 4-5 people in a car, compared to 70-80 on a bus.

Also nice to see once again so much investment in London and yet cities such as Bristol get naff all.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

Doesn't resolve the problem of the batteries used in all-electric buses being very harmful to produce, having a short lifespan and being difficult to safely dispose of.

What is wrong with trolley buses - clean electric operation without the batteries. De riguer in many parts of the world but viewed with disdain in the UK for some reason.

 

[Busaholic]

It is a good move, but will it reduce the emissions in London? Considering there are still so many cars on the road, surely a priority should be to increase congestion charge, then worry about the buses? Remember that you can fit 4-5 people in a car, compared to 70-80 on a bus.

Also nice to see once again so much investment in London and yet cities such as Bristol get naff all.

Increase the congestion charge and re-introduce it in Kensington borough and ban taxis from bus lanes. Buses should be the only motorised vehicles allowed to use them, other than emergency ones.

The 'premature deaths' figure received some analysis on a recent edition of the 'More or Less' programme on Radio 4, which lends an expert eye to statistical claims. From what I remember of it (I was listening to it while eating my meal) it might not quite be 'take with a pinch of salt' but neither is it quite what that stark headline figure suggests.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Increase the congestion charge and re-introduce it in Kensington borough and ban taxis from bus lanes. Buses should be the only motorised vehicles allowed to use them, other than emergency ones.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. Taxis cause significant disruption by stopping in bus lanes. This should not be allowed. The only exception I can think of that I would give would be if the taxi is carrying a disabled passenger, which most are not - most are carrying well-off businesspeople.

I'd also like to see more work done on taking cycles out of bus lanes by having proper Dutch style infrastructure (raised kerb, slightly less raised cycle lane, bus lane, road) - while bus drivers by and large are very patient and respectful of cyclists in London, the two vehicles aren't compatible, and the effect is that in busy places buses move from stop to stop at very low speeds.

 

[the101]

This is poor reporting by the BBC, which either as a result of the journalist not understanding the subject or as an attempt to sensationalise the story has not bothered to include the line in the press release saying that "no more pure diesel double-deck buses" will be purchased. Clearly hybrids are going to continue to join the fleet for a long time, and they run on... diesel. Sadiq's announcement concerns non-hybrid diesel double-deckers.

Those not in the know about the intricacies of buses could well assume upon reading the BBC's report that all diesel buses - hybrids included - will be on their way, which is incorrect.

The 'news' is simply that all future double-deckers purchased will be hybrid, electric or fuel cell, and all single deckers in central London will be zero emission - which was in itself announced ages ago.

As for the point about taxis, I absolutely agree. They contribute more to congestion and pollution than the a private car would when undertaking the same journey. If I call a taxi at home, it has to come from somewhere else to collect me - unlike my car, which remains switched off in the drive until it's time to go. The common allowance across the country for taxis to use bus lanes should have a stop put to it immediately - and that's before you come to the subject of them sitting in ranks for prolonged periods of time with the engine running...

 

[507021]

Good move, I think.

I wouldn't be surprised if this extends to other large cities in the not too distant future, especially when Arriva North West's vehicle order for 2016/17 doesn't include any vehicles fuelled entirely by diesel (51 hybrids, 12 electric and 9 gas), a first for the division in the (nearly) 17 years it's been in operation.

 

[AndyNLondon]

It is a good move, but will it reduce the emissions in London? Considering there are still so many cars on the road, surely a priority should be to increase congestion charge, then worry about the buses? Remember that you can fit 4-5 people in a car, compared to 70-80 on a bus.

It's not being done in isolation: TfL are consulting on are whole range of things around air quality, see http://talklondon.london.gov.uk/blogs/talk-london-team/results-clean-air-consultation & https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/environment/air-quality-consultation-phase-2/

On the congestion charge, they're proposing a £10 "Emissions Surcharge" for "older, more polluting, vehicles", which would apply from October 2017.
There's also the "Ultra Low Emission Zone", which is another charge on more polluting vehicles, and and was due to cover the CC zone from 2020. The current proposal is to extend this London-wide for large vehicles, and to the north & south circulars for all vehicles, and to come in from 2019.

 

[thedbdiboy]

He's going to have to sell off the Borismasters at a fraction of the book price.....assuming anyone wants to buy such a complex design. To get rid he'll have to virtually give them away
The financial write-off will be horrendous, and where is the cash for the new vehicles going to come from?

The Borismasters are Hybrids so not pure diesel. It is diesel-only buses that will be phased out.

 

[Busaholic]

The Borismasters are Hybrids so not pure diesel. It is diesel-only buses that will be phased out.

I'm glad that Sadiq Khan has not played the political card and announced the withdrawal of Borismasters, which will still be entering service well into next year, I'm not saying this because I'm any fan of the bus, but TfL are going to have to bite the bullet and get what life they can from them, before they are virtually given away. The bendies were withdrawn far too quickly for mostly political reasons, but that was Boris Johnson playing at being a significant politician. Anyone any recent figures as to how often, percentage-wise, they are being driven in electric mode? The last figures I saw weren't encouraging.

 

[trainmania100]

Could use the engines from the buses in the viva rail trains. I hear they use ford engines so why not