'Boris' bendy bus plan will push pollution up, not down' - Caroline Pidgeon AM

9.35.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 22nd Oct 2008

Caroline Pidgeon AM, Liberal Democrat transport spokesperson at the London Assembly, says Mayor Boris Johnson's plan to replace bendy buses with conventional single and double-deckers will lead to increased pollution.

She says: "Mayor Johnson pledged to remove bendy buses from London's streets during his first term. This means he'll have to replace them with many more conventional diesel buses until his much-vaunted "green" Routemaster is ready. We'll have years of increased emission pollution while we wait for his new bus."

Citing TfL figures the Mayor says a typical double-decker emits 1.25kg of CO2 per kilometre whereas a bendy bus emits 1.69kg over the same distance. London's 351 bendy buses have a capacity of 140 passengers each giving a total capacity on the buses of 49,140. Double-decker buses typically only carry 91 passengers meaning there will need to be 540 buses on the streets of London to maintain capacity.

Caroline's comments are in response to a written answer the Mayor provided to a question she submitted to him at last week's Mayor's Question Time.

She says Mayor Johnson's plans to bring in the new Routemaster-style bus will increase harmful emissions at a time when everyone else is trying to bring them down.

She adds: "Londoners must not become the victims of Boris' obsession with meeting his pledge in time for the next election. The new hybrid or fuel-cell Routemaster is a great idea, but pollution must not get worse in the meantime.

"If the Mayor is serious about climate change and reducing pollution, he'll wait until his new hybrid or fuel-cell Routemaster is ready for service. Otherwise, we'll either have more diesel fumes churned out, or not enough buses to meet demand, with packed buses sailing past commuters at bus stops."