West Yorkshire’s Mybus 119-strong fleet of Euro 3 yellow school buses has been fitted with clean bus technology over the summer.
After a successful £1m bid to the Department for Transport for a Clean Bus Technology grant, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) carried out a retrofit of Selective Catalytic Reduction Technology (SCRT) on the vehicles to reduce emissions and make them cleaner and greener to the latest European standards.
Carried out as part of a planned mid-life upgrade programme for the Mybus fleet, the retrofit to the Euro 3 vehicles’ exhaust systems reduces emissions of NOx (oxides of nitrogen) and PM (Particulate Matter) by over 90%. In addition, every yellow bus is now fitted with the GreenRoad Eco-driving driver performance management system, which helps the drivers to drive in a more fuel-efficient manner, thereby further reducing emissions.
West Yorkshire Combined Authority Chair Cllr Peter Box said: “Young people are especially susceptible to the potential adverse health effects of vehicle emissions so fitting this technology to school buses is particularly beneficial.
“As these vehicles operate in the vicinity of the school gate, there will also be further health benefits for children who walk or cycle to school as well as for waiting parents and those children boarding and alighting buses.”
Combined Authority Transport Committee Chairman Cllr James Lewis said, “Research has shown that an estimated 22% of the journeys made on West Yorkshire’s yellow buses were previously made by car, which means that Mybus has already contributed to reduced emissions around the county’s schools. Fitting these 119 buses with this clean bus technology will further reduce those emissions.”
To complete the project, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority matched the £1m Department for Transport Clean Bus Technology grant, with a further £800,000.
As a result of the refit and mid-life refurbishment, the effective life of the vehicles has been extended which means they will stay in use for at least a further five years.
