A trusted solution to environmental challenges
As a responsible operator, we want to be seen as a trusted partner to deliver on two of the great environmental challenges of our time: climate change and local air quality. As outlined above, growing public transport usage is a crucial element of reducing mobility’s environmental impact. But it is not enough in itself.
This is why we have sought to reduce our carbon emissions and serve as part of the solution to the air quality challenge.
Making public transport part of the solution
Across our Group operations, National Express has delivered a significant reduction in the carbon intensity of our operations. In the five years to the end of 2018, Group-wide emissions of CO2e per million passenger km declined by 13% while the number of passengers we carried increased by nearly 20%.
We are also investing significantly in new vehicles that meet the most stringent air quality standards. Euro 6 engines are a step-change improvement in public transport’s relative contribution to air quality; indeed, a Euro 6 diesel car emits ten times the per passenger NOx of a Euro 6 diesel bus. A significant part of our fleet is already this highest standard: ALSA has 900 Euro 6 vehicles; UK bus has 532 vehicles at the Euro 6 standard; and 371 (or 70%) of our UK coach fleet is already Euro 6.
We are also demonstrating leadership on the next generation of vehicles – zero local emission electric buses. In North America we are the only private school bus operator to be piloting these vehicles. In Spain and Morocco, we are currently running 10; in the UK we currently plan to be operating 29 by the middle of 2020.
Beyond this investment, we continue to encourage more people to consider the environmental benefits of using public transport. For example, as part of the West Midlands Bus Alliance we work very closely with TfWM and local councils to improve air quality and reduce harmful emissions in the communities we serve. To mark Clean Air Day in 2018, we offered free day saver tickets to the public. We were pleased to see 16,000 people sign up for the offer, and 67% of them continued to buy further products and keep travelling by bus.