Oxfordshire buses: a greener way to travel

We recently caught up with Marta Hilton, Marketing Manager at regional bus and coach operators, Oxford Bus Company and Thames Travel to hear more about the hidden benefits of taking the bus across Oxfordshire.

How much can one person’s decision to ride the bus help save emissions?

One fully loaded, double-decker bus can replace up to 75 cars on the road, reducing polluting emissions and journey times.

Across Oxfordshire, all our buses meet the Euro 5 emissions rating, with the majority actually exceeding this. They’re fitted with exhaust systems specially designed to reduce nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions, making them more environmentally friendly than the average family car.

Additionally, you may be surprised to learn how much CO₂ can be saved via a single bus journey compared to its equivalent car ride. A bus from:

• Steventon to Milton Park saves 429g of CO₂ – the same as making 181 cups of tea
• Sutton Courtenay to Milton Park saves 590g of CO₂ – the same as watching TV for 61 hours
• Oxford to Milton Park saves 3,065g of CO₂ – the same as charging your phone 12,986 times.

This shows every journey, regardless of its length, really does make a difference to help improve the air quality across Oxfordshire.

As well as the environmental benefits, bus travel has also been shown to tackle loneliness, helping to connect local communities by increasing access to education, employment, shops, healthcare and leisure activities.

It helps to free up time in people’s days to read a book, catch up on the news or watch videos on their phone – plus there’s no stressful search for a parking space at the end – allowing for more relaxing journeys and commutes.

Promoting better bus use

Across Oxfordshire, we’re pleased to see a strong recovery in bus use from the pandemic, which originally created significant challenges for the bus and coach industry. The patronage on our routes is now reaching and often exceeding pre-pandemic levels, showing clear willingness of our community to make sustainable changes to their travel habits.

We’re incredibly proud to work alongside Milton Park in boosting local green transport options by launching branded buses and introducing substantial improvements in 2021.

More recently in September 2022, we  supported the expansion of the Milton Park occupier £20 annual bus pass to include Drayton, Milton Village, Steventon and Sutton Courtenay – a fantastic initiative that we strongly believe in.

Milton Park is an exemplary example for how science, technology and business communities should strive to increase the accessibility and connectivity of greener transport options to local people.

Jump on the bus!

Even one day a week could help to significantly improve air quality and reduce congestion across Oxfordshire – and with the £20 bus pass, save you over £100 on travel over the course of the year!

Top tips for using Milton Park bus services this year can be found at: www.miltonpark.co.uk/news/milton-park-buses-our-top-five-tips/