Well they need to. When I was in London twice last year it stank. Maybe living there you don't notice it, but the city stinks of diesel fumes and I dread to think what will happen for the olympics.
I've been to central London a few times (2006, 2007 and 2008) with my (Mainer) wife. I just asked her how she would describe the air in central London. Her response: "Gritty. It left black soot in my nose."
The big problem is that there is a lot of old diesel public transportation in central London. Euro 6? I expect a lot of them aren't even Euro 4.
I wouldn't say that. They are quite strict on what they let into the London area now for trucks and busses, in that they have to be Euro 4 as of this year. (This is Euro4 for commercial vehicles which is different to Euro 4 for cars). Also, cars are excluded from the emission requirements other than right at the centre of London in the Congestion Charge Zone. Check out the wiki link I've given you and you will see how pollution in London has shot up significantly for the worse in the last ten years - in line with increase in diesel car ownership. All the old 1950's style London busses have all but been removed other than for certain tourist routes. The taxi's have had to comply with at least Euro 3 (which is still slack) but it is just the millions of diesel cars zooming around in a large city that causes the problems. [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_low_emission_zone]London low emission zone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame] Low Emission Zone | Transport for London
I remember my trip to London last year. There was the constant stench of diesel everywhere... maybe except deep into Hyde Park. Other than that, it was a pleasant trip!
When I was lucky enough to visit London? I appreciated the huge yellow arrows on most intersections reminding idiot tourists such as myself to look the other way because traffic goes in the opposite direction as in America. When you are not used to the European Left side of the road driving patterns, it's an easy way to bite it... I'm thinking silent hybrids could really thin the herd.....I'm all for it...
Cool good for London, we have a few hybrid transit buses running here in Honolulu also. http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-h...th-hybrid-system-buses-389-million-miles.html
New shape London bus now in service; New Old-Style London Bus Hits The Streets--And It's A Hybrid The new model is a hybrid but much more efficient that existing hybrid busses by 15%. It's apparantly 40% more efficient than the existing non hybrid modern double deckers. Now that's a good use for hybrid technology - as an efficient bus in a busy, congested city. It also complies to the latest, cleanest diesel technology for reduced emissions.
