Brighton and Hove bus study to investigate emissions in 'real world' fleet operations
Thu 30 January 2014
View all news
The Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company has announced the start of a project to investigate the emissions of a range of buses operating in a modern commercial public transport fleet. It will be working with Ricardo and test equipment specialist HORIBA on the project.
Brighton & Hove operates a fleet of approximately 280 modern buses in and around the city which, according to government statistics, boasts the country’s highest—and consistently growing—number of bus journeys per head of population outside London. .
The need to establish the true emissions of industry and road vehicles in the urban environment is increasingly recognized. While the exhaust emissions of new vehicles are thoroughly tested over regulatory drive cycles during the development phase, little information currently exists as to their actual emissions when used in service.
To address this need, a selection of the Brighton & Hove bus fleet is being temporarily fitted with advanced monitoring equipment, which also record real-life operational vehicle fuel efficiency during normal day-to-day service.
This project is one of the first times that the actual service emissions of a public transport fleet have been investigated in this way, the partners said. They hope the results will provide valuable information in terms of the future design and procurement of buses, in the selective deployment of vehicle types for different routes, and in the specification of new vehicle replacements and upgrades.
The research will also be potentially valuable to those concerned with the improvement of local air quality, as it will greatly add to knowledge of the emissions contributions of different buses under their typical usage patterns.
Related Links
< Back to news list