What do the two men pictured have in common?
The one on the left is Manchester ‘Metro’ Mayor, Labour’s Andy Burnham. He wants cleaner air in the city. The one on the right is Volvo Bus Senior VP Ulf Magnusson. He wants to sell electric buses to solve the problem.
Across Europe the question of cleaner air is attracting more attention than at any time in the past, and the UK is now catching up.
What Volvo’s eight-week demonstration in Manchester – the first of a series around the country – hopes to show is that its first right-hand drive 7900e full-electric single-deck bus in Manchester means business.
Also, with an order for the model in Harrogate already ‘in the bag’, it hopes to build on this early success.
Of course, Volvo isn’t the only supplier of full-electric buses for the UK market, and others have products in service too.
The point is that Metro Mayors have wide-ranging transport powers, and the Government has made it clear that it’s local authorities that must come up with air quality plans and, crucially, deliver them. How, and when, remains as yet unknown.
What is known is that next week’s Coach & Bus UK, at the NEC, Birmingham, will set out the UK’s biggest display of vehicles, services and technology under one roof this year. And, air quality is high on the agenda.
We’ll be there, and we really do look forward to seeing you too.
