Mayor claims scheme could reduce bus related NOx pollution by 90%
Low Emission Bus Zones for Chiswick High Road and Uxbridge Road have now fully operational according to Transport for London (TfL). This is earlier than the original target of next year.
According to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan there has bee an average 90% drop in bus-related NOx emissions where these zones have been implemented.
Transport for London (TfL) told us that since the 6 September, all buses running through Chiswick are of Euro VI standard or better.
On 9 August 2016 Sadiq Khan announced 12 Low Emission Bus Zones of which Chiswick High Road was one.
The focus was to be on new cleaner buses with the priority to be the retrofit of existing buses on corridors where people are exposed to high levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution and where older buses contribute significantly to road transport emissions.
All buses on these routes now have a combination of hybrid and diesel buses that both meet the highest Euro VI emission standards, or are zero emission. Two of London’s bus routes, the 43 and the 134, are becoming exclusively electric.
However, some critics of the scheme have claimed that early implementation has been achieved by reducing bus service regularity and in some cases, such as the ended of the service provided by route 27 to Chiswick, removing services altogether.
London currently has more than 200 electric buses, making it Europe’s largest electric bus fleet, and this will grow significantly next year as Transport for London (TfL) has awarded contracts to operators for a further 78 electric double-deck buses.
All the Low Emission Bus Zones meet the following criteria:
-Where buses are forecast to still be contributing 40 per cent or more of road transport NOx in 2020;
-Where pollutant concentrations were above legal limits for NO2 and are forecast to continue to exceed in 2020; and
-Outside of the central Ultra Low Emission Zone (where all the buses have been cleaned up for the start of the ULEZ in April 2019).
September 15, 2019
