Lambeth calls for cleaner buses on busy routes

Councillor launches petition calling for use of low emission buses on Brixton Road and Steatham High Road

Lambeth council has called on Transport for London to install low emission buses on some of the borough’s busiest routes.

The council has launched a petition on the campaign website change.org for low emission buses to be put in place on routes through Brixton Road and Streatham High Road, which it claims are among the worst affected by air pollution in the capital.

Hydrogen vehicles, such as these buses which have been running in London since 2011, produce zero emissions to air

The petition has attracted 78 signatories since it was set up seven days ago (February 6).

According to Lambeth council a monitoring station at Brixton Road exceeded acceptable annual pollution levels just three weeks into 2015. Public Health England has estimated that 112 deaths a year are connected to poor air quality in Lambeth.

The council’s cabinet member for environment and sustainability, councillor Jennifer Braithwaite claimed that ‘cleaner’ buses would make a ‘huge difference’ to air quality in the borough.

Buses

She said: “These cleaner buses are already in operation up in Oxford Street and in Putney. But here in Lambeth, where we are arguably the borough most reliant on buses, we have these old, gas-guzzling, carbon-spewing buses clogging up our roads and harming our residents.

“Every day I see cyclists held up behind these buses and school children getting on and off, breathing in really harmful fumes.

“Cleaner Buses would make a huge difference to the air quality around our busiest roads and create a much healthier environment.”

The councillor has also written directly to Boris Johnson and his senior environment advisor Matthew Pencharz asking them to look at installing the buses on every route that runs through Brixton Road and Streatham High Road.

Lambeth is also implementing a 20mph speed limit on all council-controlled roads over the next 12 months, in a bid to cut emissions and make roads safer for cyclists.