Most British buses are below EU emission standards

Jane Wild explains in the Financial Times that bus companies have found loopholes to buy cheaper, dirtier buses, thus circumventing EU standards. It is worrying because as Wild reports, the finding will add to the UK’s poor record on air quality, with other European countries having already acted to close similar loopholes.

UK buses fail to meet EU emission standards

Bus companies are sidestepping European laws on air pollution by exploiting a legal loophole to buy vehicles that are dirtier but cheaper.

More than 80 per cent of new buses and coaches in the UK did not meet current emissions standards, data show on registrations during 2014.

The industry held back from ordering cleaner vehicles even as the European law on emissions was tightened at the start of last year. Of the 2,373 more polluting buses that went on to the roads last year, operators made a saving of £10,000 to £15,000 for each vehicle, adding up to a minimum of £24m.

Diesel vehicles such as buses, lorries and taxis cause much of the pollution in cities, and health experts say poor air quality kills thousands of people each year and costs the NHS billions of pounds. A bus made to the newer standard, known as Euro 6, emits half as much NO2, the harmful gas linked to heart attacks, cancer and asthma.

The finding will add to the UK’s poor record on air quality, with other European countries having already acted to close similar loopholes.

It comes after Europe’s highest court rapped the UK government last year over pollution reaching dangerous levels in 16 parts of the country, including Greater London, Manchester, Glasgow and some of the Midlands.

Judges ordered the UK to come up with a plan to drastically improve its air quality, after the government admitted it might not meet EU standards on NO2 in London, Leeds and Birmingham until after 2030.

Billions of pounds had been put into developing clean technology and the UK could face huge fines from the EU if it did not meet standards, said Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which compiles the registrations data.

“Government needs to act, so that the full potential benefits of the latest emission-reducing technologies into which manufacturers have invested can be realised,” he said.

Campaign groups criticised the government’s failure to force companies to upgrade their vehicles.

“If the UK is allowing these new rules to be circumvented then it’s time for the European Commission to investigate and, if necessary, take action to stop the abuse,” said Greg Archer, clean vehicles manager at campaign group Transport & Environment.

“Air pollution kills 400,000 people annually in Europe, yet the Euro 6 standards to lower exhaust pollution from trucks and buses have been fought over for 10 years.”

FirstGroup, one of the UK’s biggest bus operators, said it was now trialling the cleaner buses, but all vehicles it ordered last year were fitted with the older engines.

“When evaluating our 2014-15 order Euro 6-engined buses were not widely available, the technology was very young and so our options were limited,” said Giles Fearnley, managing director of First Bus.

Stagecoach said that it had bought both Euro 5 and Euro 6 buses for its fleet and had invested heavily in greener vehicles. “We comply fully with European and UK legislation for our buses,” the company said.

The Confederation of Passenger Transport, which represents bus companies, said it was a commercial decision as to whether operators bought vehicles meeting the older or newer standards.