Hybrid buses make city’s air cleaner

The transport group was hailed by the judges as an excellent example of a big business taking the lead. Its wide-ranging strategy to tackle climate change has seen the company invest more than £12m in a fleet of 40 hybrid electric vehicles in the last six months as part of a wider plan for Sheffield.

Stagecoach’s bus services in Yorkshire cover Hull, Sheffield, Barnsley, Rotherham, Huddersfield, Doncaster, Pontefract and Wakefield and employ more than 1,300 staff.

They operate about 440 vehicles and serve about 57 million passengers annually. The group also runs the Sheffield Supertram, which carries about 15 million passengers annually, employs 285 staff and runs 25 trams.

Stagecoach’s investment in hybrid electric vehicles was matched by a £4.6m grant from the Department for Transport’s Green Bus Fund.

The firm said that greener, smarter vehicles, value-for-money fares and increased frequencies have resulted in significant growth.

In 2006, it carried six million passengers in Sheffield. This figure has now risen to 16 million a year.

The new fleet has increased the number of Stagecoach hybrid buses in service or on order by more than 40 per cent.

The Enviro 400H double-deckers feature free wi-fi, incorporate regenerative braking technology and produce 30 per cent less carbon emissions than standard vehicles.

Stagecoach was awarded the prestigious Carbon Trust Standard after reducing carbon intensity by 5.7 per cent in three years as a result of measures designed to make business more sustainable.

It also launched an Energy Team, made up of staff whose task is to steer the company’s objectives of getting people out of their cars and onto public transport to improve local air quality and further reducing the company’s carbon footprint.

And, while Stagecoach’s green endeavours have encompassed major changes to the way it operates, the company has been sure to look at all aspects of its operations – large and small.

Its drivers, for example, are kept warm with fleece jackets made from recycled plastic bottles.

Stagecoach was the first public transport company to join the Care4Air Eco Stars Fleet Recognition programme in South Yorkshire, making a positive contribution towards improving local air quality.

The free, voluntary scheme is designed to provide recognition, guidance and advice to operators of goods vehicles, buses and coaches across South Yorkshire.

Speaking after the awards ceremony, Joe Gilchrist, engineering director, told the Yorkshire Post: “We’re very pleased to win. It’s the first award for our hybrid buses.”

He said the company made the decision to invest because of climate change and better fuel consumption. Mr Gilchrist added: “The public really enjoy the buses. They’re very quiet and very smooth. The drivers love them as well.”