Lothian pledges to use newer buses to reduce carbon footprint

Lothian Buses has pledged to use greener vehicles in order to reduce its carbon footprint and help meet Scottish Government targets.

Lothians Bus 2020 strategy sees it committing to operating only buses which meet a minimum vehicle standard of Euro 5 or above by the end of 2020.

The firm’s ambitious 2020 vehicle plan, which commenced in 2016, sets out the investment and reasons behind the purchase and disposal of vehicles. The scheme is to cost around £78 million and will involve Lothian only operating Euro 5 or better buses by the end of next year.

Lothian launched its business environmental strategy on George Street yesterday by inviting 100 car users to give a high impact visual comparison at how much space can be freed by people travelling on their new Alexander Dennis Enviro400XLB buses as opposed to the car.

Volvo Bus and Alexander Dennis, have worked with Lothian to bring new technologies and processes to the design of the new vehicle on display yesterday.

Richard Hall, Lothian’s managing director said: “Lothian is an essential part of the fabric of Edinburgh and Scotland and carries over 350,000 customers every day across our complete operating area.

“We are continually looking to the future and how we evolve our business model, including how an ‘active’ travel journey which includes walking, cycling and public transport will play a role in the evolution and development of society and the socio-economic change we are now seeing across the world. Add to that the obvious health benefits and it’s a simple solution.

“Even with buses accounting for less than 5 per cent of the overall road transport emissions, it’s still important that we play our part as a sociably responsible business by doing everything we can to reduce emissions in our city. Our Bus2020 strategy sets out our plans to cut our emissions to reduce our impact on the environment and ensure we meet the Scottish Government’s 42 per cent climate reduction target.

“As technology moves forward we will evolve our long term relationships and continue to work with our key suppliers to review, trial and invest in the latest technologies to ensure we are leading the way in tackling air quality and climate change.”

Since 2011, the company has seen substantial emission reductions through the purchase of more than 300 vehicles and the disposal of older vehicles. By the end of 2020, Lothian will have removed 12,219 tonnes of CO2 emissions and 307 tonnes of NOx emissions from the local environment.

Nick Page, Managing Director for Volvo Bus UK and Ireland said: “Whilst there have been ongoing concerns over diesel vehicle emissions over the last 18 months, Euro 6 heavy diesel vehicles are cleaner than ever and this is why we are happy to deliver these vehicles to Edinburgh.”

Transport and environment convener, councillor Lesley Macinnes, said: “Using public transport can dramatically reduce the number of cars on our road and the impact of congestion on the city.

“As Lothian continues to invest in lower emission buses, car-dominated streets can become a thing of the past.”

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