Skip to main content

Cars emit less CO2 per passenger km than buses

UK government emissions data shows that buses outside of London emit an average of 221g/km CO2e (CO2 equivalent) per passenger km compared to a small petrol car (201g/km), a small diesel car (172g/km) and a medium diesel car (215g/km). A car containing two people would obviously halve these figures. London buses, because of their higher average occupancy, fare better at 102g/km.
May 4, 2012 Read time: 1 min
UK government emissions data shows that buses outside of London emit an average of 221g/km CO2e (CO2 equivalent) per passenger km compared to a small petrol car (201g/km), a small diesel car (172g/km) and a medium diesel car (215g/km).  A car containing two people would obviously halve these figures. London buses, because of their higher average occupancy, fare better at 102g/km.

"Perhaps those who criticise lone car drivers should turn their attention to empty off-peak buses instead,” says Paul Biggs, environment spokesman at the Association of British Drivers. “Although buses provide an important public service, even London can only manage an average occupancy of around 15 passengers. Modern efficient cars outperform buses not just for CO2 emissions, but for genuine pollutants as well," Biggs adds.

Related Content

  • Bristol, UK: when a parking space is just too small
    May 8, 2015
    People park in the smallest of places, despite the best efforts of urban street designers and town planners to ensure an orderly arrangement of suitably spaced cars. Surly some spaces are just too small to park even the smallest car. But the city of Bristol, in southwest England, has taken no chances and has painted the double yellow ‘no parking’ lines in areas no one in their right mind could squeeze a car. Click here to see just how small the space is that authorities in Bristol have felt they need
  • Italy's strategic tunnel link
    August 21, 2012
    The world's largest tunnelling machine is completing Italy's important road connection between Bologna and Florence - Adrian Greeman reports For just under a decade a huge programme of highway construction has been underway in the mountainous region between Bologna and Florence, realigning a section of the A1 highway nearly 70km long. The new section, through major tunnels and across high viaducts, will greatly increase capacity on Italy's most important highway.
  • IRF conference tackles transport green targets
    July 4, 2012
    The IRF's 2nd conference on roads and the environment addressed key transport targets, Mike Woof reports Reducing the impact of the road transport sector as a whole was the focus of the IRF's 2nd Roads & Environment Conference. Opening the event, Jean Beauverd, chairman of the IRF in Geneva said, "Evidence of global warming is now unequivocal. Even if we were to stabilise the effects of CO2 emissions, the effects would continue for decades. Eco-friendly processes have not yet reached the full acceptance tha
  • A new event is preparing the asphalt industry for tomorrow’s world
    September 11, 2018
    An inaugural event for the European bitumen industry urged attendees to look to the future - Kristina Smith reports What will tomorrow’s roads look like? Will lanes be narrower, will the road charge vehicles as they drive on them, will they collect data, will they be self-cleaning and de-polluting? All these questions and more were pondered at a two-day conference in Berlin, entitled ‘Preparing the asphalt industry for the future’. It was the first such event for Eurasphalt & Eurobitume (E&E), and set a