London mayor Sadiq Khan has unveiled the second low emission bus zone in the capital in Brixton, which follows the Putney launch in March.
The new clean bus zone runs from Brixton Hill via Stockwell Road and Streatham High Road to Streatham Place, and carries 130,000 passengers a day on 450 buses.
It will be the second of 12 low emission bus zones being introduced in heavily polluted areas in an effort to improve air quality.
According to City Hall, the Putney route has recorded a 90% reduction in hourly pollution level breaches, with early analysis suggesting a 40% reduction in annual nitrogen dioxide concentrations at Putney High Street.
Putney High Street exceeded hourly legal levels of nitrogen dioxide on 1,248 occasions in 2016. Under EU rules, the limit shouldn’t be exceeded more than 18 times in a year.
Going forward, only buses that meet tough emission standards will be allowed to run within the Brixton zone, so have to meet Euro VI standards. That is being achieved through the rollout of more than 200 new double-deck Euro VI hybrid buses, 13 new single-deck cleaner diesel buses, and the retrofit of 230 buses to meet a Euro VI emission standard.
The 12 low emission bus zones planned by 2020:
- Putney High Street – from Putney Station to Putney Bridge Road
- Brixton to Streatham – from Brixton Hill via Stockwell Road and Streatham High Road to Streatham Place
- A12 Eastern Avenue – from Blake Hall Road via High Road Leyton and Homerton High Street to Marsh Hill
- Lewisham to Catford – from Bromley Road via Rushey Green to Lewisham High Street
- Stratford – from Abbey Lane via Mile End Road to Woodgrange Road
- Harringay – from High Road to Green Lanes
- Camberwell to New Cross – from Blackheath Road via Camberwell Green and Peckham High Street to Wood’s Green
- Wandsworth to St John’s Hill – from Lavender Hill to Wandsworth Road
- Edgware Road (Kilburn to Maida Vale) – from Cricklewood Broadway via Kilburn High Road to Shoot-Up Hill#
- Edmonton to Seven Sisters – from Amhurst Park via Green Lanes and Seven Sisters Road to The Broadway
- Uxbridge Road to Shepherds Bush – from Ealing Broadway via Hanger Lane to Uxbridge Road, The Broadway
- Chiswick High Road to Kensington – via Hammersmith Broadway and Kensington High Street to Studland Street
The mayor said:
I have tasked TfL with transforming the public transport network, which includes removing or retrofitting the oldest, dirtiest buses on our streets to cut harmful emissions.
We’ve already seen a massive improvement in air quality along the Putney route. I’m confident that will be replicated here in Brixton and along the 10 other routes where we are introducing low emission bus zones.
This article originally appeared on City A.M.
