Transdev in the North of England is driving forward with its mission to meet the toughest emission standards as the United Kingdom celebrates Clean Air Day today, June 17, 2021.
Transdev UK’s subsidiaries, whose 489 buses serve people and communities across Yorkshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester, is set to reach a landmark on its roadmap to meet the nation’s toughest Euro 6 emission standards.
The current fleet includes 8 electric buses and a further 119 vehicles fitted from new with advanced low-emission diesel engines, which already meet the minimum Euro 6 standards required to enter designated Clean Air Zones (CAZs) without incurring penalty charges.
A further 115 Transdev buses have been fitted over the last year with exhaust treatment equipment which reduces emissions to Clean Air Zone standards – with 22 more to follow over the next few months, taking the percentage of Transdev’s entire fleet across the North meeting CAZ standards to 54%.
Transdev subsidiary, the Harrogate Bus Company’s regular service bus fleet has become the first in the group to achieve 100% full compliance with Euro 6 low emission standards – an achievement the operator hopes to replicate elsewhere.
We are proud to be playing our part towards protecting the environment through our continuing commitment to low emission vehicles – at the same time as we continue investing in high-specification buses that our customers are proud to be seen on.
As we continue rebuilding our regional economy beyond the pandemic, we can’t just go back to congested streets and traffic jams. Getting back to bus will help us to tackle congestion and pollution in our town and city centers – and soon more than half of our entire bus fleet will meet the toughest Euro 6 emission standards.
We also work closely in partnership with local, regional and national authorities, and share our expertise in electric bus operation and emission-reducing technology with other bus operators. The West Yorkshire Bus Alliance has a target to upgrade all buses to Euro 6 standard or better in the next five years – and together, we bid successfully to the Government’s Clean Bus Technology Fund to support our £8.036 million, five-year program to make it happen.
Alex Hornby, Transdev’s CEO in the UK
Transdev’s program to make its buses compliant with low emission standards has also won financial support from regional and local authorities, including:
- £964,000 from Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM)
- £833,000 from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA)
- £136,000 from Leeds City Council
- £16,000 from City of York Council
Transdev’s drive to make more of its buses fully compliant with the strictest low emission standards will continue in the remainder of 2021 and beyond. Transdev is currently working with local authority partners on joint bids for grant funding to introduce more fully electric, zero emission buses.
Plans for a Clean Air Zone in Greater Manchester, covering all 493 square miles of the conurbation, are currently due to be implemented in Spring 2022. Lorries, vans, taxis, private hire vehicles plus buses and coaches that fail to meet low emission standards would be charged each day to use the roads under the scheme.
In Yorkshire, Bradford’s plans for a Clean Air Zone are on course to be implemented in January 2022 – while similar proposals for Leeds were withdrawn last October, as pollution levels improved much faster than expected after bus operators, including Transdev, invested in new and updated low-emission technology.
Meanwhile York introduced the UK’s first voluntary Clean Air Zone covering the city center February 2020. City of York Council worked in partnership with bus operators, including Transdev, and now all regular city center buses are either electric or compliant with the lowest Euro 6 emissions standards.
Full details of all Transdev bus services across Yorkshire and Lancashire are available online at: https://www.transdevbus.co.uk and on the free to download ‘Transdev Go’ mobile app.