Diesel only buses will soon be a thing of the past on London streets with mayor Sadiq Khan announcing a new procurement policy for future buses at the launch of a new hydrogen-powered bus.
According to Khan, the low air quality contributes to 10,000 premature deaths each year and he aims to clean up the air by eradicating diesel buses from the city.
London is currently serviced by 51 battery powered and three fully electric buses, but Khan intends to have 300 zero-emission models on the road by 2020.
“I want London to become a world leader in hydrogen and electric bus technology,” Khan said.
“It’s great that more cities are getting on board to phase out the procurement of pure diesel buses which sends a clear signal that only the cleanest technologies are wanted in our cities.”
London’s commitment to cleaner air is part of a Europe-wide push to remove dirty transit from its cities, with eleven other cities including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Cape Town also indicating they will stop buying diesel buses.
