Success of the campaign for cleaner buses

„It looks like Clean Air Action Group’s campaign worked, more than a hundred Volvo buses will get new engines in Budapest. Some of them have been carrying passengers for a million kilometers.” This is a quote from one of the leading online news portals about transportation in Hungary, vezess.hu (http://www.vezess.hu/haszongepjarmu/felujitja-volvok-motorjait-bkv/64326/).

The campaign to which the news portal is referring to is the one in which Clean Air Action Group (CAAG) asks the users of public transport to report if they smell diesel exhaust fumes inside the bus they are traveling on or if they see a bus emitting a cloud of soot. CAAG created an online form where anyone can enter the license plate of the vehicle and the time where they experienced such malfunction. CAAG sends these to the Budapest public transport company BKV. In all cases BKV has informed CAAG about the repairs carried out as a result of CAAG’s intervention.

The campaign also sheds light on the terrible condition of many of BKV’s buses. Until they can be fully replaced, they should be kept in the best possible shape for the health and safety of everyone living in Budapest. Thankfully things are changing, and now 63 Volvo buses will be renewed. These buses are 9 to 11 years old, and the Municipality bought them used. Most of them have the terribly outdated EURO II and EURO III engines.