Buses and coaches are environmental champions - they are the most carbon-efficient way to travel
Travel gives us benefits we all value highly; from holidays and daytrips, to seeing the countryside, seaside or races; weddings and other family occasions; accessing jobs, entertainment and educational venues; or simply visiting different shops and markets for a wider choice. Most of us also appreciate that in addition to these benefits, transport and travel come with costs to our environment. Coach travel is already one of the most environmentally friendly modes of transport currently available, but we understand the importance of continually improving our own environmental performance.
With greenhouse gas emissions from transport representing 21% of total UK domestic emissions, we aim to reduce our own carbon emissions through internal initiatives. These include: improving fuel efficiency across the fleet; investment in driver training; use of bio-fuels.
UK data shows that coaches emit 0.03 kg of CO2 per passenger-kilometre. This is half that of trains and radically smaller than the amount emitted by cars (0.11) and aeroplanes (0.18). If every bus in the UK took just one more car driver as a passenger, up to 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year could be saved.
The example below shows that, over a distance of 100 miles a large car (with one occupant) will emit the most CO2 per traveller and the coach emits the least.
To compare the CO2 emissions of your own journey, use the Transport Direct online CO2 calculator.
Sources: Smart Move. Transport Direct (DfT)
