Holloway Garage won the Environmental Campaign Champion award at last night’s London Bus Awards.
The London Bus Awards are a celebration of the commitment of drivers and teams from across the capital’s bus industry, recognising those who have gone the extra mile to deliver an excellent service to customers. Taking place in London’s Living Room on the top level of London’s iconic City Hall, the awards were hosted by Claire Mann, Director of Bus Operations at Transport for London, who praised the industry’s work in delivering an improving service and strong implementation of Destination Zero training. The award’s 8 categories were highly contested between nominees from a range for different London Bus Operators, which also included Metroline’s Willesden Garage who were shortlisted for the Best Vehicle Care Award.
The Environmental Campaign Champion award recognised the efforts of an operator or individual who have made substantial efforts to contribute towards cleaner air for London, and have demonstrated innovation, leadership and commitment towards achieving this. Metroline’s Holloway garage was commended for their community focused initiatives, including their aim to improve air quality though the ‘Cleaner Air for Bus Drivers’ initiative, and the implementation of a fully electric bus route (43) operating from the garage.
The judges were greatly impressed by the multiple initiatives Holloway Garage had put in place to help improve its surrounding environment. In operation since 1907, Holloway’s garage has seen a number of significant transport developments, moving from the age of horses to trams, trolleybuses to routemasters, and now to more environmentally friendly and sustainable vehicles. The ‘Cleaner Air for Bus Drivers’ initiative saw the garage work with partners, CWC Environmental, Archway ZEN and the Mayor’s Air Quality Fund, and its drivers to limit the amount of time spent idling with their engines running. Encouraging drivers to switch off when stopped has helped to improve air quality for both drivers and local residents, and helped to reduce noise levels around bus stops. In addition, Holloway Garage’s investment and commitment to electric buses saw significant development to enable electric buses to charge and operate from Holloway with ease as well as a number of measures that will improve the environment along each round and around the bus garage.
Speaking about the award win, Fola Olawo-Jerome, Metroline’s Garage Manager at Holloway, said: “We are delighted to have won the Environmental Campaign Champion award. We have been working very hard at our garage to deliver London’s first electric bus route and improve air quality for the local community. This award is a great honour and it will motivate everyone in the garage to keep up the good work.”
Sean O’Shea, Chief Executive Officer of Metroline said, “This is a great recognition of all of the hard work that has been put in locally to get our electric buses into service. Congratulations to the whole team at Holloway Garage.”
