Greener, cleaner buses just the ticket for Scotland
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond got a glimpse of the future when he boarded a revolutionary Scottish-built bus that promises greener, cleaner transport for operators and passengers across the country.
During June 2010 Mr Salmond announced that the Scottish Government will be investing £3.4 million in a Scottish Green Bus Fund, which is open to all bus manufacturers, to contribute towards Scotland's target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 42 per cent by 2020.
The Enviro400H hybrid-electric double deck is widely regarded as the most advanced bus in the world, introducing new technology that is achieving fuel and CO2 reductions of between 30 and 40%.
It has been developed and built by Falkirk-based Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) whose Chief Executive, Colin Robertson, told the First Minister that orders for over 100 of the ground-breaking vehicles are now in the pipeline – and, as a consequence, the company is set to move towards series production of the radical new bus.
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First Minister Alex Salmond said:
"Scotland has established world-leading targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions and I am delighted Alexander Dennis are pioneering greener buses to help tackle climate change.
“These Falkirk-built state-of-the-art buses will offer commuters cleaner, greener, transport and make a positive contribution to global goals to reduce harmful emissions.
“Last week I announced that the Scottish Government is making a record £31 million investment in sustainable and active travel this year - and this will include a £3.4 million Scottish Green Bus Fund.
"Our Climate Change Delivery Plan commits us to almost completely decarbonise road transport by 2050, with significant progress to be made by 2030. The Scottish Green Bus Fund will provide a fresh incentive to operators to purchase Low Carbon Vehicles (LCV) for their fleet and contribute to improving air quality, accessibility and reducing air-polluting emissions.”
Mr. Robertson commented: “Our hybrid-electric vehicles have been operating successfully in London for 18 months and further fleets will be launched in Oxford and Manchester during the remainder of this year.
News that the Scottish Government is to launch a Scottish Green Bus Fund that will incentivise the introduction of greener, low-emission buses is a welcome opportunity to demonstrate that our hybrid-electrics can out-perform any option available in this important growth sector. We are also keen to see them operating in our own back yard”.
Mr. Robertson told the First Minister that despite the UK bus market being hit by a 30% downturn in demand, ADL has been able to offset this to an extent with its new hybrid business and a series of important wins in export territories. These include orders for over 90 double decks and 30 single decks that will be delivered to major operators in Hong Kong during the second half of this year and in the first quarter of 2011.
In the meantime, ADL has started production of double decks at Riverside, California, as part of its new alliance with Thor Industries in North America. Around 30 vehicles are now being built in California with 23 of these destined for Community Transit, in Seattle, and others en route to the university town of Davis, near Sacramento.
Together, the orders for hybrids, Hong Kong and North America, represent £65m of business for ADL.
