Environment

Winner, Gold Award, Harrogate Electrics – The Harrogate Bus Company

Harrogate Electrics is a groundbreaking project from The Harrogate Bus Company to transform the town’s network of local buses by introducing a fleet of silent, zero-emission electric buses, working alongside a fleet of Euro VI diesel buses for longer distance routes. As well as cleaning up air quality, it was important to create a network of buses which people want to be seen on, turn heads and tempt people out of their cars for good. It was felt that the people of Harrogate were willing to appreciate the cause, giving its ‘closeness of community’ and a largely understanding and educated ABC1 demographic. With the investment in a fleet of eight electric buses, and continued investment in new and refurbished Euro VI buses for the rest of the fleet, Harrogate has now become the UK’s first ever Low Emission Bus Town.

‘Great’ was the word that one judge used to sum up the introduction of electric buses in Harrogate. The company focussed on one area and did it very well, with excellent stakeholder and community contact. The vehicles are highly visible with an eye-catching livery, and as another judge said, the scheme shows what the bus industry can do.

Winner, Silver Award, Guildford park & ride electric buses – Stagecoach South

Guildford Park & Ride services operate from four sites on the outskirts of the town centre, six days a week with 2,610 passenger spaces. In January, Stagecoach South unveiled a fleet of nine brand new BYD ADL Enviro 200 electric vehicles to operate the services. The vehicles were introduced following a bid for the Office for Low Emission Vehicles ‘low emission bus scheme’ in partnership with Surrey County Council and marked a first for the South of England with an evenly split £3m investment from Stagecoach South and the Council. The buses were launched to widespread acclaim, following a fully integrated marketing campaign and the creation of a distinctive brand for the Park & Ride routes. Stagecoach South was also challenged to find a suitable way of drawing enough power to charge the vehicles overnight, leading to a partnership with Zenobe Energy to install a Tesla power pack.

This scheme overcomes the problem overcomes the problem of not being able to draw enough power from the local grid to charge buses, by supplementing it with a rechargeable Tesla power pack in partnership with Zenobe Energy.

Winner, Bronze Award, The UK’s first air filtering bus – Go South Coast – Bluestar

Southampton is at its unsafe limit for clean air. The air is killing people and we all need to act and work together to make a difference for the future of our community. Buses are part of the solution to the pollution. Bluestar has worked in collaboration with PALL Aerospace to launch this simple innovation of the UK’s first air filtering bus. Results are positive and additional vehicles will be fitted so we can help improve the future air quality in Southampton.

Finalist, Series-E hybrid buses for London – Go-Ahead London

Go-Ahead London is a pioneering bus operator having delivered a series of ‘firsts’ for London. The Waterloo Garage electric bus conversion, which took place in late 2016 and early 2017, brought together a number of partners, especially ADL and BYD, with the end result being the popular Enviro 200 EV single-deck. In devising the Series-E hybrid ultra-capacitor, ADL and BAE have created a product that has also been recognised by both the Government (Ultra Low Emission Bus Scheme funding) and the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership. Series-E hybrid technology uses the diesel engine to act as a generator for the electric drive. The engine switches off when its not needed to top up the capacitor. An ultra-capacitor energy storage system replaces the previous generation’s batteries. Designed to last the lifetime of the bus, this vehicle is predicted to reduce total cost of ownership by over 50% compared to previous generation buses. Go-Ahead London is the launch customer for this next generation Enviro400H, with the first 39 buses entering service on route 36 between Queen’s Park and New Cross Gate. Another 26 are on order for routes 77 and 87, bringing the total to 65.

Finalist, Electric buses and Cleaner Air for Bus Drivers – Metroline

Over the last year, Metroline has been leading the way for a more sustainable London Bus service, with the Holloway bus garage – one f london’s oldeest – at the forefront of change. In February this year was the the launch of London’s first completely electric double deck service, now on two routes, bringing zero emissions travel to more than 18 million people in the city a year. The garage also launched the Cleaner Air for Bus Drivers campaign which addresses the issue of buses idling at bus stands and in the garage. Amid urgent calls to make improving the quality of London’s air a priority for the city, Metroline is embracing the mission to cut emissions, with initiatives resulting in drivers being made aware of the need to limit idling time, and demonstrating the success of electric double deck buses.

Finalist, Electric buses at Shepherd’s Bush – RATP Dev London

RATP Dev London aims to progressively turn Shepherd’s Bush garage into an all-electric fleet, making it the company’s first zero-emissions bus garage in London. The first step in this process involved the delivery of 36 10.8m long, Enviro 200EV single-deck electric buses last year, enabling the garage to convert two of its five routes to emission-free operation. These two routes were the 70 (South Kensington to Chiswick Business Park) and the C1 (White City to Victoria). A third route, the 94 (Acton Green to Piccadilly Circus), is to go electric in February of 2020 and will be the garage’s first double-deck bus route to be converted. Once the buses for Route 94 go into service, more than half of the garage’s fleet will comprise electric vehicles. This will leave just two remaining non-electric routes at Shepherd’s Bush: the 72 (operated by diesel buses) and route 148 (operated by hybrid buses). When these two routes are converted to electric bus operation, the garage will be serviced by a zero-emission fleet.