Emily Thornberry has joined Mayor of London Ken Livingstone in unveiling the world's first ever double-decker ‘hybrid bus' at City Hall - as plans to introduce environmentally-friendly buses in London gather pace.
The new ‘hybrid buses' are cleaner and quieter than regular diesel buses, cutting emissions by 40%. Six single-decker hybrid buses are currently being tested on a route in South London, and once testing is complete, Emily wants the first round of buses to come to Islington.
Emily is collecting a petition to show the strength of support for going green amongst Islington residents. She is also asking local residents which routes they would most like to get the hybrids, and will pass this information and the signatures on to the Mayor.
Emily said:
"Islington is a noisy and polluted place, so green buses would make a real difference to streets like Upper Street, Essex Road, and Caledonian Road. They would also be welcome on routes along residential streets like Hemingford Road because these new buses are so quiet. I'm collecting local residents' signatures to show Ken how much support there is in Islington for going green."
Ken said:
"Hybrid buses can make a real contribution to a cleaner, greener public transport network for Islington and for the rest of the capital. Creating a low-carbon bus fleet is an important part of our work to cut the emissions which are causing climate change"
Transport for London expects around 40 hybrid buses to be operating on London routes by 2008, with every new vehicle joining the fleet to be hybrid by 2012. Residents wanting to sign the petition to being green buses to Islington first should email emilythornberrymp@parliament.uk or write to Emily at the House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.
