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

  • Building green with nanotechnology
    June 23, 2021
    The results are out: Iterchimica and Directa Plus’ GiPave combines recycled plastic and nanotechnology to improve pavement performance across the board
  • Bitumen technology reduces maintenance costs
    April 12, 2023
    Looming net zero deadlines, and impetus from the private sector are accelerating the take up of carbon-saving technologies
  • Quarry operators improve on productivity
    February 13, 2012
    With capital expenditure plans being reduced, many quarry operators are using the funds available to improve on productivity with their existing equipment fleets. Claire Symes reports. The economic downturn has had a big impact on the aggregates production sector with many quarry operators looking to reduce costs and rationalise operations. The impact of this can be seen in the reduction of capital expenditure plans but the investments that are being made are focused on efficiency.
  • Noise camera knowledge is far from sound
    February 7, 2025
    Despite the UK public wanting measures to tackle noisy vehicles, knowledge of noise cameras, such as the SoundVue system from Intelligent Instruments, is low, according to a recent poll.