FOI request detail

Fatalities and injuries of ZEBs,Trams and conventional diesel engined vehicles

Request ID: FOI-3209-2324
Date published: 16 January 2024

You asked

at a public meeting a view was expressed that Electric Buses were more dangerous to pedestrians than the alternative diesel engined vehicles. TFL is one of the largest operators of ZEBs and electric trams in the UK, so I would be interested to know what data TFL may hold on this issue. The allegation suggests that the quieter operation of a ZEB is a danger to pedestrians and cyclists is this true? What I would like to know is: 1. What fatalities and injuries from all causes have been experienced in the last 10 years, involving the bus fleet. 2. What fatalities and injuries from all causes have been experienced in the last 10 years, involving the tram fleet. 3. How many pedestrians have been killed or injured by buses in the last 10 years? 4. How many cyclists have been killed or injured by buses in the last 10 years? 5. How many pedestrians and cyclists have been killed or injured by ZEBs in the last 10 years? 6. What is the fatality/injury rate of cyclists and pedestrians of ZEBs and conventional buses? Is the ZEB fleet experiencing more fatalities per vehicle, than the (declining) fleet of diesel buses? 7. Any other data on ZEBs, Diesel vehicles and accident rates.

We answered

Our Ref:      FOI-3209-2324  

Thank you for your request received on 11 December 2023 asking for information about collisions involving zero emission buses (ZEBs), trams, and conventional diesel engine vehicles.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs) and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require.

With more than 1,300 zero emission buses on our roads, our programme of decarbonising the fleet is playing a crucial role in the journey to net-zero. Zero emission buses help Londoners breathe cleaner air and reduce the impact of road transport on our environment.  We continue to work closely with capital’s bus operators to convert the whole fleet and remain on track to be a fully zero-emission fleet by 2034, which could be accelerated to 2030 with further Government funding.

Acoustic conspicuity and the potential risk of quieter running buses (e.g. electric and hybrid) was looked at in detail as part of the development of the Bus Safety Standard in 2018. This research is available on our website (https://content.tfl.gov.uk/bus-safety-standard-acoustic-conspicuity.pdf). An Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System (AVAS) is a system to make quieter running buses identifiable to pedestrians and cyclists, and other road users outside the vehicle. It is intended to help Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) detect the presence of a bus and reduce the collision risk it represents if they were to cross in front of it.
 
UN ECE Regulation 138 required that electric and hybrid vehicles be fitted with AVAS from 2021. We committed to introducing this earlier, and since 2019 AVAS has been required on all new buses entering the fleet as part of our Bus Safety Standard. We exceeded the regulatory requirements through the development of a unique Urban Bus Sound which maximises acoustic conspicuity. Last year we also developed a responsive AVAS where the sound levels vary depending on the background noise in order to further improve acoustic conspicuity. There are currently 1,109 buses fitted with AVAS (November 2023 figures) through the Bus Safety Standard. This figure will continue to increase as new buses enter customer service as part of our commitment to have a fully zero emission fleet. We also have a programme to retrofit AVAS, which includes upgrading buses that already have AVAS to responsive AVAS and retrofitting AVAS to electric buses in scope that do not currently have AVAS. 
 
Please note the following when reviewing the information below:
 
•           The data for buses comes from our incident reporting system that relies on the bus operators inputting the data into the system
•           This database is different to the STATS19 data that is collected by the London police forces which is used for tracking progress against the Mayor’s Transport Strategy aims and ambitions, and for publications such as the annual Casualties in Greater London Factsheet and the online Road Safety dashboard
•           The definition of “serious” changed from 1 April 2020 therefore comparing figures before and after this date is not appropriate
•           Bus fatality data only goes back to 2014
•           2023 bus figures are incomplete and only go up to September 2023 – with the 2023 figures being provisional at this stage
•           2023 tram figures only go up to the date of extract – 13 December 2023 – with 2023 figures being provisional at this stage

You asked:

1.         What fatalities and injuries from all causes have been experienced in the last 10 years, involving the bus fleet?
 
 201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Fatality Total00142114161813121175
Serious Total1291110616041714165917011483160142513712776
Minor Total566551994737439346245205489641353053380949313741
All injuries total695663056355612862976922639757493490395850653822

2.         What fatalities and injuries from all causes have been experienced in the last 10 years, involving the tram fleet?

We only hold tram data back to 1 April 2017 and it is recorded by financial year:
 
Victim Category and Injury Type2017-182018-192019-202020-212021-222022-232023-24Total
Customer20261510111311106
Killed00000101
Minor18261510111011101
Serious20000204
Workforce1318168142012101
Killed0000000 0
Minor1318158142012100
Serious00100001
Total33443118253323207

3.         How many pedestrians have been killed or injured by buses in the last 10 years?
 
Pedestrians201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Fatalities005987853222
Serious1621572082151951641561825515214
Slight395368276256271248222155143172227185
Total557525489480474419386342201189250191

4.         How many cyclists have been killed or injured by buses in the last 10 years?
 
Cyclists201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Fatalities000010100020
Serious001325312932259721
Slight0034426462432847678346
Total0047679691765356748747

5.         How many pedestrians and cyclists have been killed or injured by ZEBs in the last 10 years?
 
Pedestrians - ZEBs201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Fatalities000000000000
Serious000011310010
Slight00011223251912
Total00012354252012
             
Cyclists - ZEBs201220132014201520162017201820192020202120222023
Fatalities000000000000
Serious000000110100
Slight0000003024112
Total0000004125112

6.         What is the fatality/injury rate of cyclists and pedestrians of ZEBs and conventional buses? Is the ZEB fleet experiencing more fatalities per vehicle, than the (declining) fleet of diesel buses?
7.         Any other data on ZEBs, Diesel vehicles and accident rates

We do not hold this information. Due to the complexity of calculating the mileage of the buses by fuel type in an ever changing fleet we do not calculate this data and therefore do not hold these rates.

If this is not the information you are looking for please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
 
Yours sincerely

Gemma Jacob
Senior FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London

[email protected]

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