27 November 2013

ACTION buses the cleanest in the country

| Barcham
Join the conversation
15

Don’t be alarmed, I mean in terms of emissions standards. If you’re like me after reading the above statement you probably immediately started to worry about the hygiene standards of the rest of Australia’s busses if ACTION turned out to be the gold standard, but don’t worry.

Different thing.

Shane Rattenbury today announced ACTION new busses will be the first in Australia to meet the strict “Euro 6” emissions standard.

Well done ACTION, hopefully everywhere else quickly follows suit.

“ACTION will be the first city bus operator in Australia to use these improved, greener buses. It’s a small part of making Canberra a leader in both environmental and health outcomes,” said Mr Rattenbury.

“ACTION is procuring 77 new buses, to be rolled out from May 2014 to mid 2017. They’ll be clean, fuel efficient and most noticeably they produce minimal harmful pollutants. They’ll help keep Canberra’s air clean and reduce pollution.

“The Euro 6 diesel buses produce around 80 per cent fewer ‘oxides of nitrogen’ and 90 per cent fewer ‘diesel particulates’ than the previous Euro 5 engine models. It’s important we reduce these particular pollutants as they are harmful to people’s health and reduce local air quality.”

Mr Rattenbury said ACTION’s new buses will replace ACTION’s ageing Renaults, some of which are now up to 25 years old.

Join the conversation

15
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

IrishPete said :

JC said :

IrishPete said :

KB1971 said :

ML-585 said :

Haven’t seen direct comparisons, but I’m not sure that Volvo would agree that a Euro VI diesel Scania is “cleaner” than their B5 Hybrid (currently in service in Perth).

A hybrid still burns fuel. The standard isnt about how much fuel is burned but the limit of the content of poisonous gases are coming out of the exhaust.

I assumed the story is about the whole fleet. Is the whole Perth fleet hybrids? Anyway, the headline is a joke as someone could overtake the ACT well before 2017.

IP

What’s 2017 got to do with it? These buses, which are the first in Australia are being rolled out from next year, which is 2014, though yes through to 2014. As the claim is the first in Australia it would make it hard to overtake the ACT as no other government operator is going to market for new buses at present.

I think a 4 year timetable would actually make it fairly easy for a similar-sized city to overtake Canberra.

And like No Waste 2010 perhaps it is an aspirational target…

IP

Overtake what exactly? The claim is they are the FIRST to introduce them, next year. They are not claiming to be the biggest.

Anyway not sure what your beef is, 25 new buses a year is about what Action should be buying year in year out and it has been roughly what they have been doing the past 12 years. 77 over 3 years is close enough to that too. So good on Action and good on the ACT government for having a regular controlled fleet replacement program.

JC said :

IrishPete said :

KB1971 said :

ML-585 said :

Haven’t seen direct comparisons, but I’m not sure that Volvo would agree that a Euro VI diesel Scania is “cleaner” than their B5 Hybrid (currently in service in Perth).

A hybrid still burns fuel. The standard isnt about how much fuel is burned but the limit of the content of poisonous gases are coming out of the exhaust.

I assumed the story is about the whole fleet. Is the whole Perth fleet hybrids? Anyway, the headline is a joke as someone could overtake the ACT well before 2017.

IP

What’s 2017 got to do with it? These buses, which are the first in Australia are being rolled out from next year, which is 2014, though yes through to 2014. As the claim is the first in Australia it would make it hard to overtake the ACT as no other government operator is going to market for new buses at present.

I think a 4 year timetable would actually make it fairly easy for a similar-sized city to overtake Canberra.

And like No Waste 2010 perhaps it is an aspirational target…

IP

Funnily enough, according to the Canberra Times article these new buses will use more fuel then the buses they replace.

From what I’ve read in relation to Volvo plug in hybrids being trialled overseas, these hybrid may not be as clean as Euro VI. But use less fuel, really it all depends on what you prefer for your green credits.

ML-585 said :

KB1971 said :

I cant imagine the whole of the Perth bus fleet is hybrid, it would be cost prohibitive.

Perth currently has one Volvo B5 Hybrid, which is being trialed on the CAT routes. It is being compared to an equivalent Euro 5-spec B7 operating the same services.

Any idea what the cost of the Hybrid bus is v the conventional bus?

Currently hybrid cars really are not worth the fuel consumption as their purchase cost is quite high and their extra urban fuel consumption is not that great. In a fleet situation it would make more sense because of the time on the road.

A small well sorted diesel usually does better figures than a hybrid.

KB1971 said :

I cant imagine the whole of the Perth bus fleet is hybrid, it would be cost prohibitive.

Perth currently has one Volvo B5 Hybrid, which is being trialed on the CAT routes. It is being compared to an equivalent Euro 5-spec B7 operating the same services.

magiccar9 said :

I look forward to not being covered in a black soot cloud from the old orange busses when they take off from the lights.
Now we just have to find a better way for the climate controlled busses to vent their excess water rather than using a pipe to cover following cars in dirty water.

That water shouldn’t be dirty, its just condensation from the outside of the AC evaporator. The bus doesn’t use water to provide AC like a building does. Your car does the same thing.

I look forward to not being covered in a black soot cloud from the old orange busses when they take off from the lights.
Now we just have to find a better way for the climate controlled busses to vent their excess water rather than using a pipe to cover following cars in dirty water.

IrishPete said :

KB1971 said :

ML-585 said :

Haven’t seen direct comparisons, but I’m not sure that Volvo would agree that a Euro VI diesel Scania is “cleaner” than their B5 Hybrid (currently in service in Perth).

A hybrid still burns fuel. The standard isnt about how much fuel is burned but the limit of the content of poisonous gases are coming out of the exhaust.

I assumed the story is about the whole fleet. Is the whole Perth fleet hybrids? Anyway, the headline is a joke as someone could overtake the ACT well before 2017.

IP

What’s 2017 got to do with it? These buses, which are the first in Australia are being rolled out from next year, which is 2014, though yes through to 2014. As the claim is the first in Australia it would make it hard to overtake the ACT as no other government operator is going to market for new buses at present.

IrishPete said :

KB1971 said :

ML-585 said :

Haven’t seen direct comparisons, but I’m not sure that Volvo would agree that a Euro VI diesel Scania is “cleaner” than their B5 Hybrid (currently in service in Perth).

A hybrid still burns fuel. The standard isnt about how much fuel is burned but the limit of the content of poisonous gases are coming out of the exhaust.

I assumed the story is about the whole fleet. Is the whole Perth fleet hybrids? Anyway, the headline is a joke as someone could overtake the ACT well before 2017.

IP

Eruro 6 is a relatively new emissions standard that all the current buses don’t comply with but the new ones will so its not based on the whole fleet.

Having said that, the natural gas powered buses are cleaner as there are no diesel particulates. There is still co2, nos and all the other nasties though which is what Euro6 is trying to minimize.

Hybrid vehicles reduce bulk emissions by using less fuel but they still produce the same amount of nasties per tonne, they just take longer to get there because the electric motor is doing the driving as well.

I cant imagine the whole of the Perth bus fleet is hybrid, it would be cost prohibitive.

KB1971 said :

ML-585 said :

Haven’t seen direct comparisons, but I’m not sure that Volvo would agree that a Euro VI diesel Scania is “cleaner” than their B5 Hybrid (currently in service in Perth).

A hybrid still burns fuel. The standard isnt about how much fuel is burned but the limit of the content of poisonous gases are coming out of the exhaust.

I assumed the story is about the whole fleet. Is the whole Perth fleet hybrids? Anyway, the headline is a joke as someone could overtake the ACT well before 2017.

IP

Watson said :

When I read the headline I thought they meant they had a clean interior and my first thought was “Duh, that’s because no one uses them”.

i’m guessing you don’t ride busses between 7:30 and 9:30 and 5:00 and 6:00 on weekdays.

Wouldn’t an all electric solar light rail car be better?

When I read the headline I thought they meant they had a clean interior and my first thought was “Duh, that’s because no one uses them”.

ML-585 said :

Haven’t seen direct comparisons, but I’m not sure that Volvo would agree that a Euro VI diesel Scania is “cleaner” than their B5 Hybrid (currently in service in Perth).

A hybrid still burns fuel. The standard isnt about how much fuel is burned but the limit of the content of poisonous gases are coming out of the exhaust.

Haven’t seen direct comparisons, but I’m not sure that Volvo would agree that a Euro VI diesel Scania is “cleaner” than their B5 Hybrid (currently in service in Perth).

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.