If you’ve been out in Brighton over the last couple of days, you may well have spotted some sleek new pale-blue buses quietly making their way around the city centre.
These are Brighton and Hove Buses’ new fleet of 30 hybrid electric double-deckers, which will automatically switch to run in zero-emissions mode every time they enter the city’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ).
The bus company’s £9.9 million investment has made Brighton the first city in the UK to have buses with this technology, called ‘geofencing’. Their Managing Director Martin Harris hopes that this investment will “help improve air quality for everybody by continually cutting emissions and reducing energy and fuel use,” as well as helping the company to meet its zero-emissions target by 2030.
The new fleet has been specially designed to mirror the colours of Brighton – sea blues and the green of the city’s iconic seaside arches. It will initially be rolled out on the busy number 5 route, which currently serves 7.6 million passengers a year travelling between Hangleton and Patcham.
In what is sure to come as welcome news to Brighton’s cyclists, the company also claims that their new buses are safer, as they are fitted with two high-definition cameras on the front instead of mirrors. These cameras relay pictures straight to the driver, and give them “a clearer, wider view of the road, with fewer blind spots”.
Joe Gatford, 33, of Vale Avenue in Patcham, said:
“I’m pleased that Brighton and Hove Buses are taking steps to become more eco-friendly and reduce their emissions. As someone who walks around the city centre quite a lot, though, my only concern is that the buses are so quiet you can hardly hear them coming, so they could potentially pose a danger to pedestrians.”
Encouraging people to use public transport more, especially when it’s as eco-friendly as these new buses, is certainly good for the environment. The Department for Transport estimates that cars make up 15% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, whereas buses only contribute 1%. However, some might think that the bus company’s zero emissions target of 2030 is too far in the future, and that change needs to come much sooner. What do you think? And do you sympathise with Joe’s concerns regarding the potential danger these quiet buses might pose to pedestrians? Please let us know in your comments!
