Eco boost for bus travel

Bus travel in England could become greener thanks to a new government scheme.

A £30 million fund is available to councils and bus operators so that they can buy fuel-efficient vehicles.

Lord Adonis, the transport secretary, said: “For the sake of our environment and the air quality in our towns and cities it’s important to encourage the industry to move towards low carbon models.”

He added that carbon emissions from buses have increased “significantly” in the last decade, with the fund aiming to address this over the next two years.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “The soot produced by buses is a major concern in urban areas – hybrid models will help, but less than 4 per cent of the fleet will be powered in this way by 2011.”

Why are diesel-engined buses a risk to health?

Half an hour of sniffing diesel fumes in a busy city street is enough to induce a “stress response” in the brain, according to scientists who measured volunteers. The response continued to increase even after they had stopped breathing the fumes. There is speculation that the changes in the brain may trigger other body responses to diesel fumes, such as oxygen deprivation in the heart. Previous studies in rats have shown that minuscule soot particles can make their way directly to the brain via nerves in the nose.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said “There is a popular belief that because of their lower average CO₂ emissions, diesels are better for the planet. Unfortunately it appears that it is people, particularly those in built-up areas that are paying the price.”

“However, the advent of diesel particulate filters (DPF) heralds a dramatic improvement in the environmental rating of diesels.”

DPFs remove all trace of particulates from the exhaust gases.

CO₂ emissions for buses

If you would like to find out the CO₂ emissions for your car, visit our Green Car Buyers’ Guide

If you would like to make a direct comparison between your car and the modes of transport above, divide its CO₂ per km figure by 1.5 (the average number of passengers carried by a car).

Greener driving

For over 25 years we have been providing straightforward, affordable breakdown cover. We also offer personal beakdown cover if you are the sort of person to drive multiple cars . Find out more on the website.