Go North East, part of the Go-Ahead Group, is rolling out its unique ‘Air Filtering Bus’ to help tackle pollution in Newcastle and Gateshead and will be deployed to rotate across a variety of routes.
Go North East is part of Go-Ahead’s national roll out of its Air Filtering Bus into six cities throughout the UK as the group accelerates plans to have the greenest fleet of buses in the country.
The single-decker buses – which strip pollutant particles from the air as they drive – are also being deployed in Brighton, Manchester, Oxford, Plymouth and Crawley/Gatwick. The buses will hit the streets from the early summer.
Each bus is fitted with an air filtering system made up of three fans on the roof that suck ultra-fine particles and dirt (known as PM10) into special filters.
The roll-out follows a successful launch in Southampton last year where initial tests showed that a single bus could remove as much as 65g of pollutants from the air – equivalent to the weight of a tennis ball – in a 100-day period (and cleaned 3.2 million cubic metres of city air).
Martijn Gilbert, Managing Director at Go North East, said: “We know that improving air quality is a huge priority in Newcastle and Gateshead.
“Buses already make a positive contribution by proving low carbon journeys that take cars out of traffic jams. We are also investing in low-emission vehicles each year, and in the summer we’ll be taking delivery of our first batch of full electric zero emission buses.
“This innovation represents a further step that we are taking to contribute to cleaner air.”
Health problems associated with outdoor air pollution are linked to 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
In the UK, the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) estimates that particulate air pollution reduces the life expectancy of residents by six months on average.
The Air Filtering Buses are designed to clean the air as they drive through a city, removing up to 99.5% per cent of particulate matter which travels through it.
To find out more about Go North East, www.gonortheast.co.uk.