Over the past few months First York bus company has taken delivery of 21 battery electric double deck buses for use on three of the five of the Park and Ride routes in York. One of the excluded routes already has battery electric single deckers, and the other needs longer articulated buses to provide enough capacity, which are not yet available as all electric. For now they have had their engines upgraded to Euro VI emission standards.
My reason for including this photo is that I had a ride on one of these to the Askham Bar vaccination centre for a Covid-19 vaccination this afternoon. They are comfortable, and have impressive acceleration. The Askham Bar route has been modified slightly to allow those going for vaccination to get off the bus almost at the pedestrian entrance.
The bus in this shot is parked opposite the railway station basking in the sun, and has the city walls in the background. For the technically minded, they were built by Optare in Sherburn-in-Elmet, about 10 miles from York. They will reduce CO2 emissions by 1.6million tonnes per year in the city, compared with diesel buses. At the time they were ordered, they were the second largest battery electric fleet in Britain, with London having the largest.
Sorry for the later than usual post, I haven't been back home from my exciting outing for very long.
That’s great that your vaccinated. A little bit of a slower program in Canada. Love the idea of an electric fleet. I have an electric car and love it.
Nice shot of the bus :)
Great capture of this environmentally friendly bus - what a wonderful service that is being provided in order for you to receive a vaccination as well.
Oh wow, all electric? I always think they don't have much in the way of battery longevity. Hope it works well! Hope you are feeling okay after your vaccination. Lots of people have side effects for a couple of days. Hope you're doing well.
Beautiful shot and bus. Your county is sure moving in the right direction to lower emissions; buses are the worst in this. Our buses, which I never make use of even though they are free for over 60's have Grade V/Vl engines but far away from turning to electric ones.
Well done York on so many electric buses!
Nice to hear you've had your vaccination too, hopefully some level of normality will return soon. Great shot, fav.
Great narrative and I’m happy you had a great day out too. The bus might have zero emissions except for tyre rubber on the road and oil from moving parts. 100%? And I’m sure that there are emissions from the production of power no matter what method. Truth in advertising???
We are just about to start lining up for our vaccinations here in Australia. Bring it on!!!
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much apprecated.
Sorry for my absence for the last couple of days, I was not feeling at my best after my Covid-19 vaccination. It seems I am one of a small minority to suffer a little more than a sore arm afterwards. Still, It's done and it feels like a big step forward towards whatever the new normal becomes. Roll on the second dose!
Thank you Carol. I felt much better by yesterday evening. Katharine had hers a week earlier with no effect except the sore arm - but she did have a different vaccine to me. We both feel a great sense of relief after having it done.
Ian
February 22nd, 2021
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Nice shot of the bus :)
Nice to hear you've had your vaccination too, hopefully some level of normality will return soon. Great shot, fav.
We are just about to start lining up for our vaccinations here in Australia. Bring it on!!!
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much apprecated.
Sorry for my absence for the last couple of days, I was not feeling at my best after my Covid-19 vaccination. It seems I am one of a small minority to suffer a little more than a sore arm afterwards. Still, It's done and it feels like a big step forward towards whatever the new normal becomes. Roll on the second dose!
Ian
Thank you Carol. I felt much better by yesterday evening. Katharine had hers a week earlier with no effect except the sore arm - but she did have a different vaccine to me. We both feel a great sense of relief after having it done.
Ian