Sadiq Khan signals an end to pure diesel bus procurement
Sadiq Khan signals an end to pure diesel bus procurement
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has unveiled the city’s first hydrogen-powered double-decker bus as he restated his commitment to tackle the fumes produced by public transport in the capital.
His new procurement policy means that London will not add any new pure diesel double-decker buses to its fleet from 2018 onwards, and all of its new single-decker buses will be zero-emission models.
Hydrogen buses will be trialled on the streets of London in 2017, and Mr Khan said that he would like to see other cities worldwide follow suit.
Eleven other major cities around the globe have already taken steps to start phasing out their procurement of pure diesel buses, and they aim to fully accomplish this by 2020’s end. These cities include San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Copenhagen and Cape Town. Meanwhile, Madrid, Paris and Mexico City have resolved to eliminate diesel buses from their streets by 2025.
Mr Khan stated: “I want London to become a world leader in hydrogen and electric bus technology. I’m implementing hard-hitting measures to clean up London’s toxic air, and it’s great that more cities are getting on board to phase out the procurement of pure diesel buses, which sends a clear signal that only the cleanest technologies are wanted in our cities.”
He has committed to purchasing approximately 300 zero-emission buses by 2020, and more than 50 battery-powered electric buses have already been put into service on the 507/521 route.
Mr Khan aims for all London buses to comply with the Ultra-Low Emission Zone standard throughout 2020 as part of his focus on air pollution in the city.
The C40 Climate Change Leadership Group of Cities recently announced its plants to host a Finance Academy in April so that it can help cities fund additional zero-emission buses and the supporting infrastructure, which is generally more expensive than the purchase of pure diesel buses.
