13 March 2008

Lucketts Travel gives coach fleet the ‘green’ light

Four months before coaches and buses are required by law to comply with London’s Low Emission Zone (LEZ) Fareham coach operator Lucketts Travel has given all of its vehicles the ‘green’ light to travel into the capital.

All of the company’s 50 coaches already meet the new strict regulations which come into force in the summer.

As of July, any coach or bus entering the LEZ, introduced to help improve air quality across Greater London, in a vehicle that does not meet the LEZ emission standards will have to pay a daily charge of £200.

“We are very proud that our entire fleet is already LEZ compliant,” said Steve Luckett.

“For many years now, Lucketts has been conscientious about reducing carbon emissions so that our coaches are environmentally efficient. We can venture throughout our core Hampshire area, into London or further afield, knowing we are doing our bit to help improve air quality and that is extremely important.

“Normal full size coaches are capable of taking up to 53 people, and when you look at the normal occupancy rates in cars, that can mean well over 30 cars off the road on any journey. With the decrease in the emissions of coaches now, that means that the environmental benefit of using coaches is even better now. For many people, using a coach can be a way of “doing their bit”. Businesses can use staff travel by coach as a way of off-setting their own carbon footprint as well as offering their staff a tax efficient benefit as well,’’ added Steve.

“Our in-house driving instructor is tasked to provide instruction to ensure our drivers drive in the most environmentally friendly manner, and also conserve fuel and costs too. In addition to all these driving issues we are now also running our vehicles on bio-fuel.’’

A large proportion of the Lucketts fleet of coaches were purchased after October 2001 which means they automatically fall within permissible emission levels and thereby meet the Euro III standard exempting them from the charge. These include four brand new 08 registration coaches which have just been added to the Lucketts fleet.

And coaches bought before 2001 have already been modified so emissions meet required Euro III standard for particulate matter.

Pictured – Steve Luckett with one of Lucketts Travel’s new coaches