1. The Greener Buses By Chris Moore

2. How Bus Systems Work Most councils now days uses contacted bus companies to run services instead of doing it themselves, this has its advantages and disadvantages: Advantages: Bus companies can use tactics they have used in previous contracts, that have proven to work previously Bus companies are less likely to carry on providing services that aren't economically beneficial to them. Hence they will look as to where more people use the service and assign buses differently As bus companies would buy in bulk, the buses become cheaper thus reducing end user costs Disadvantages : Bus companies may care less about the area, as they aren’t so easily evaluated Councils may take longer to provide bus companies with their requests Bus companies my keep old buses in service longer than they would normally be used for, using older buses thus emitting more emissions and reducing safety.

3. Recent Technologies In the recent years, new models of buses have become available with reduced emissions, cheaper/more accessible fuel and higher standards of buses. Some of the new technologies include: Use of used cooking oil as fuel (Big Lemon Buses) Use of Hybrid engines (using batteries and a smaller diesel engine) Reusing air then cooling it to reduce NOx (nitrogen oxides) which is a harmful gas Use of fuel cells and using Hydrogen gas The most exciting one of these is the Hydrogen Fuel Cell buses as they only produce water as a product of their engine

4. As you can see the amount of emissions has risen, this is due to an increase in the amount of buses on the roads. We can also see that the amount of passengers per km has risen with the pollution, this shows that the emissions aren’t for a negative reason. As you can see the increase in passengers was at the introduction to the congestion charge Recent Technologies Below we can see the change of NOx emissions produced by buses in London over the last few years.

5. The New Buses Impression Advantages of Hydrogen Cell Buses: Renewable energy Security of supply No emissions Reduces noise pollution Reduces vibrations Disadvantages: Limited operating range Capital Cost Planning permission Safety concerns

6. Even though now there are more buses on the roads, running more routes and more frequently, people are still using their own cars for commuting, rather than using the public transport available. Below is a table showing the use of vehicles in Hertfordshire: As you can see below, there has been little change in the amount of use that buses have seen in the last 5 years, and the change that there has been has really had a negative affect. With fuel become more expensive people are opting to walk rather than using cars or buses, even though this is better for the environment, the majority still prefer to use cars. The Use of Buses

7. It is also important to see how many people use the bus system to travel to school with, as it is important to influence the children of today, to grow up more reliant on public transport. Below there is a graph to show how school children get to school The Use of Buses As you can see there is a significant increase in the amount of bus users travelling to school rather than the adults is almost quadrupled. This shows that the school children are one of The buses main users.

8. Conclusion With buses becoming a much greener way to travel we all have to do our part to support them. It is important that we all use the buses more and therefore reduce immersions in our towns. With the busses using more sustainable sources of fuel and each bus reducing its own levels of emissions, bus fare prices should drop rapidly. Once this happens more people will be more keen to use the buses. With buses using new tactics, i.e. stopping at less stops in rush hour. People will be more likely to use them for journeys in a rush. This will also help by reducing the amount of emissions from the diesel buses. But this could have a negative impact on people who would of joined at stops where the bus wont stop.

9. References Big Lemon Buses (2007) Retrieved 18/11/2007 http://www.thebiglemon.com/ Red Buses go Green – Presentation by Mike Weston (2006) Retrieved 19/11/2007 http://www.ciltuk.org.uk/download_files/redbusesgogreen.pdf Hertfordshire transport Quality of Life Results (2005) Retrieved 17/11/2007 http://enquire.hertscc.gov.uk/qol/2005/transport.cfm Wikipedia - London congestion charge (2006) Retrieved 20/11/2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_congestion_charge Transport for London - Bus emissions http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/environment/2011.aspx