14 September 2007

Media Advisory

Locke at Auckland low emission city bus launch

Green Party MP Keith Locke will be attending today's launch of the new low emission Stagecoach buses on the Auckland City Link run.

The launch of these new buses, by Prime Minister Helen Clark, will take place at 1pm today at Stop D3, Britomart.

"I congratulate Stagecoach for the new buses, which will reduce exhaust emissions by over half," Mr Locke, Greens' Spokesperson on Auckland transport issues says.

"The twenty new buses will make a big difference to air quality in central Auckland, and will hopefully speed up the replacement of the whole Auckland fleet with buses that meet the same Euro 5 standard. A low emission fleet would also contribute significantly to reducing Auckland's greenhouse gas emissions, which largely come from the transport sector.

"Low emission buses also help in the current debate over dedicated bus lanes along Queen St. The Greens strongly support such lanes, to promote quick and high capacity services up Auckland's main street and beyond. A reduction of exhaust emissions will hopefully help convince some of the doubters that the Queen Street bus lanes are a good thing," Mr Locke says.

ENDS

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