Bus2020 and Beyond

Bus 2020

Launch of Bus2020 in George Street, offering a visual representation of how many cars could be taken off the road if these car owners travelled in one of our Alexander Dennis Enviro400XLB buses.

The Bus2020 journey, spread across four years, saw Lothian set a number of challenging goals across the company. Starting in 2016, our Bus2020 strategy outlined how we planned to reduce our emissions, helping to improve the air quality in and around our city, as well as setting out how we would reduce our overall carbon footprint.

Year by year, we’ve continued to meet and, in some cases, exceed the set targets. As we begin a new chapter in our environmental journey, it is right that we should recognise the progress we have made, despite a tough 2020, we remain determined to meet our environmental targets and forge a pathway to a greener and cleaner future for our customers, our stakeholders and our city.

In 2020 we continued our journey to improve on our Euro V exhaust emission commitment to running our entire fleet at Euro V standard by the end of the year. Our Euro VI buses reduce emissions of NOx (nitrogen oxides) and Particulates (PM) by 98%, making for cleaner air around us. In 2020 alone, we were able to remove over 270kg of particulate matter, 50 tonnes of nitrogen oxides and over 2,500 tonnes of CO2 from our carbon footprint.

The removal of 2,500 tonnes of CO2 is the equivalent of taking 1,825 cars off the road for one year. It’s also the same amount of CO2 needed to fill 388 hot air balloons.

Since 2011, we have removed over 12,000 tonnes of CO2 from our total carbon footprint.


What’s next?

Lothian is working on developing a strategy which sets out measurable, achievable objectives in line with Scottish Government and City of Edinburgh Council guidelines.

  • Consideration to be given to the City Plan 2030 and City Mobility Plan (CEC) and Transport Scotland Delivery Plan. The City of Edinburgh Council have set out an ambitious agenda for change, including to be carbon neutral by 2030. To achieve these significant changes, a new plan for mobility and transport has been set out, addressing the challenge of reducing carbon emissions and how people, goods and services move into and around the city. It addresses air quality, congestion, accessibility and inclusion, cost of travel and convenience of payment, safety and how to create space for people in the city.
  • Clear vision relating to the vehicles we procure over coming years, considering advances in clean bus technology.
  • Lothian will play a crucial role in many of the significant mobility and transport challenges faced in Edinburgh over coming years