Camberwell and New Cross residents celebrated the announcement of the new low emission bus zone between the two districts, anticipating a potential 99% drop in vehicle emissions.
Twitter user, Nina Featherstone, says: “Sounds brilliant! Don’t forget about planting more trees.”
Another twitter user, Eileen Walsh says: “Hooray for high hopes.”
Mayor Sadiq Khan has planned to establish 12 low emission bus zones, 7 of which are up and running. These were introduced to some of the worst polluted hot spots in London in order to meet the cleanest Euro VI standard – a scheme by the European Union to reduce harmful pollutants from vehicle exhausts. New buses have been bought and old ones will be retrofitted.
Councillor Richard Livingstone, Labour cabinet member for Environment, Transport Management and Air Quality, said: “We have been making a case for introducing cleaner buses in Southwark for some time now… Alongside the council’s new electric vehicle charging points and cycle ways, this new zone will help improve air quality in Southwark, which we know really matters to our residents.”
According to an evaluation by City Hall, the two low emission bus zones that were built a year ago, Putney High Street and Brixton Road, have seen a 99% reduction in vehicle emissions. Putney High Street in particular has only exceeded cleanest Euro VI emission standards for two hours in 2018 in comparison to 807 hours in 2016.
This will benefit Camberwell in particular because it has the highest number of buses running in the 5 areas the low emission bus zones are being introduced to at 380, which commutes over 70,000 passengers a day.
TFL reports that the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Low Emission Bus Zones are an effective way of dramatically reducing pollution and improving health of thousands of Londoners who live or work along the worst air quality hotspots.”
This £85 million programme will see old buses retrofitted. The ones which are not compatible with the new low emission engine will be taken out of service. 2000 have already been retrofitted, leaving the TFL ahead of schedule to meet the cleanest Euro VI standard in 2020, hopefully finishing the scheme by the end of 2019.
By 2020, the whole of London should be a low emission zone says TFL.
However, Southwark Green Party doesn’t believe Mayor Khan is doing enough, releasing a statement demanding that buses on all 15 routes that pass through Camberwell Green to be “replaced with electric, hydrogen or hybrid vehicles” instead of just 3.
Southwark Green Party spokesperson, Eleanor Margolies said: “We were astonished to discover that people waiting for buses in Camberwell and walking to school with their children are exposed to such appalling levels of pollution. Our illegal filthy air contributes to thousands of deaths in the UK every year, and cases asthma and stunted lung development in children.”
Polluted air has also been seen to both make chronic illness worse and shorten life expectancy.
