« BackNews: Bristol Set For Fleet Of Biogas Buses

Bristol Set For Fleet Of Biogas Buses

 

A social enterprise has stepped in to take over the operation of the longest bus route in Bristol, and it intends to use a fleet of 21 biogas buses to do so.

Bristol Community Transport (BCT) will run the M1 MetroBus route, which connects South Bristol to shopping centre Cribbs Causeway, travelling through the city centre.

It’s taking this on under contract to First West of England, which will run the M2 and M3 routes around the city. This is the first time that two operators have contracted to each other in England to provide bus services.

In total, £7 million will be spent providing the buses, which can run on food waste. As well as being more environmentally friendly to operate they will have amenities for customers too, such as free wifi and a USB charging point by every seat.

Chief executive of HCT Group, which is the parent company of BCT, Dai Powell explained that because they are a social enterprise they operate for community benefit.

“That means we will reinvest the money we make from MetroBus into services for elderly and disabled people in the local area, which we hope will go some way towards meeting the increasing needs of these groups,” he said

A number of UK cities are exploring the possibility of using biogas buses to provide public transport and lower their emissions. CleanTechnica recently reported that Reading Buses has taken delivery of 17 double-decker biogas buses from Scania.

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