Thank you for your email received by us on 9 February 2017 asking for information about the running costs of our buses and the various road vehicles we use.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. You asked for:
How many ground transport vehicles including buses, vans and trucks does TFL own, manage and run in London?
What percentages are run on petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric?
Our London Buses network has a fleet of 9,500 buses, the majority of which are owned or leased by private bus operating companies. However, the New Routemaster fleet of approximately 850 vehicles, are owned by Transport for London (TfL) and leased to these operators to run services on our behalf. Please refer to our website for the information we publish in spreadsheet format on our contracted fleet, which can be filtered accordingly at: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/bus-fleet-data-and-audits
In accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply you with a copy of the requested information as it is already accessible to you elsewhere.
TfL also has 1229 vehicles in our support fleet, inclusive of our haulage and waste Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV’s) which are above 3.5 tons. The percentage which are run on petrol, diesel, and electric/hybrid/hydrogen are 1%, 95% and 4% accordingly.
What is TFL's or the operators annual fuel bill to run these vehicles in London per year?
Where is the fuel purchased from and what cost?
We do not hold information about bus operating companies fuel bills, as each operator will have their individual fuel procurement strategy, which may include hedging and bulk buying.
TfL’s fuel card spend for our in-house fleet in 2016 was £1,488,165.87 and approximately £240,000 is spent on internal bulk fuel annually.
How much fuel is consumed per year by these vehicles on the whole?
The London Buses fleet consumes around 250 million litres of diesel a year.
Our in-house fleet fuel card purchases for 2016 were for 1,573,372.60 litres of fuel and we purchase approximately 250 000 litres of bulk fuel per annum.
How much emissions do these vehicles emit per year on the whole?
Please refer to the aforementioned link to our bus fleet data, please also see our air quality and climate change web pages for further information here:
https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/improving-air-quality?cid=transport-emissions
Is any fuel subsidy given to the buses?
The Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) which was paid directly to bus companies via the Department for Transport (DfT), no longer applies.
Does TFL or the bus depots operate their own fuelling stations or depots?
Apart from our internal bulk fuel operation, which is based at Acton, we do not operate fuelling stations. Some bus operators will have supply contracts that bring diesel to their garages but we do not hold information about these specific arrangements.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely
Jasmine Howard
FOI Case Officer
Information Governance
Transport For London
