Buses, a greener option?

Do Buses have a greater carbon footprint than individual cars?

· Buses are scrapped after a short number of years, cars last longer so require less resources to replace and keep on road.

· Their fuel consumption is greater than a number of smaller cars so they need to actually be full in order to have fewer emissions.

· A 10min Car trip could take 30-40min on buses, (waiting for buses, connecting routes, having to take earlier buses to make appointments on time) So this means for a round trip – there and back - you could lose almost an hour (each trip) meaning if it was a business expense the equation is not in the buses favour.

o Bus – 1 hour, 20min @ $20/hour, + ticket, + Diesel/passenger, + road user charges/passenger (at conservative guess) = $30

o Car – 20Min @ $20/hour, + Fuel (At conservative guess) = $15

· People are having to work longer hours and be away from home longer in order to meet the same financial commitments which also means any loss of time also eats into family/recreation time destabilizing family relationships resulting in social and community breakdown.

I’m not sure you’re saving the planet, but you are keeping Greenpeace employed, so at least it’s good for the economy…