Go-Ahead Group operates bus and rail services across the UK, as well as in the Republic of Ireland and in Singapore, and is responsible for more than a billion journeys each year.
The organisation aims to enhance the wellbeing of communities worldwide, and is committed to innovation by tackling climate change and improving air quality.
In the past few years, Go-Ahead Group has launched buses that filter particulate matter out of the air, and introduced hybrid buses in one city that switch to zero-emission electric mode in the city centre. However, it was the organisation’s work in Southampton, UK, that saw it win the 2020 UK Fleet Champions Sustainable Journeys Award.
The World Health Organisation had recognised that Southampton was at its ‘limit’ for air quality, and as a major operator in the city, Go-Ahead Group recognised its own role in making sure the city’s air was breathable. To this end, it created a new filter that was installed on its buses to remove up to 99.5% of particulate matter from the air, especially the dangerous PM10 particulates.
During a 100-day trial in 2018, the filter cleaned 3.2 million cubic meters of air, with one single bus removing 65g of pollutants from the air – equivalent to the weight of a tennis ball – and filtering as much air as 6,000 people breathe in one hour. Go-Ahead Group believes that by expanding its fleet, it could remove as much as 1.25kg of PM10 from the air every year. It has now committed to rolling out air filtering buses across the UK.
Go-Ahead Group won the 2020 Sustainable Journeys Award at the UK Fleet Champions Awards.
See more previous winners.