The Company

The BVG boasts Europe's cleanest diesel buses

The Volvo buses subsidized by the German Environment Ministry have exhaust values that already easily meet the EU emission standards known as EURO 5, which will not go into effect until 2008. A sophisticated combination of soot filter technology and exhaust recovery succeeds in doing what was long thought possible only for buses that run on natural gas or hydrogen.

Strictest emission standards for Berlin's buses
With Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin in attendance at the Zehlendorf Bus Depot on 5 February 2004, the BVG presented 25 buses which are the first to meet Europe's strictest EEV (Enhanced Environmentally Friendly Vehicle) standard.

In addition to many other projects, CRT (Continuously Regenerating Trap) filters were installed in the diesel buses back in 1999. The combination of oxidation catalytic converters, low-maintenance particle filters, and the use of diesel fuel containing virtually no sulfur result in levels that, with the exception of nitrogen, dramatically undercut the legally stipulated limits. More than 1000 buses have already been retrofitted with this technology, which means that the BVG has the largest fleet of vehicles with CRT worldwide.

Our 1,400 buses make us the largest public transportation company in Germany, and we take responsibility for the quality of life in Berlin.
A comparative is examining results from the city of Frankfurt/Oder, which runs its buses on natural gas, with the figures from Berlin. Initial results show that EEV is a good investment. Even without government subsidies, the additional costs for the environment are low. And they are more than made up for by significantly lower cost risks, such as when the vehicles are sold. The new single-decker buses are specially marked to show that they use this technology. Known as the "campaign" buses, they feature a gigantic brimstone butterfly.