Just passing through

I like to try and bring photos of what to see on the road s of Plymouth, and where possible what is coming up. Today we get a preview of something quite different to just about anything else you will see on the road, but it wont be here for long…

Presenting Partner of the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, has unveiled its unique, highly sustainable fleet of hybrid support vehicles that will lead over 8,000 Olympic Torchbearers along their momentous 70 day journey around the UK. Setting out from Land’s End on May 19 the five-strong fleet will travel between thirty minutes and eight hours ahead of the Olympic Flame. The Beat Fleet and Coca-Cola team will whip up excitement, handing out special edition, commemorative Coke bottles and memorabilia, and encourage  hordes of cheering crowds to line the Relay route in celebration of their local Future Flames—inspirational young people who have been given the once in a lifetime opportunity to run with the Olympic Flame thanks to Coca-Cola.

Coca-Cola’s ‘Beat Box’ and ‘Beat Bus’ have each been converted to diesel-electric hybrid power which is estimated to save 1.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the course of the Relay and ‘Recycle Beat,’ a cutting-edge mobile recycling unit, is fitted with an advanced exhaust cleanup system and low emission auxiliary generator to dramatically reduce air pollution. ‘Recycle Beat’ will follow in close pursuit behind the Olympic Torch Relay, sweeping the route and surrounding areas to ensure all waste is collected for recycling.

The torch will arrive in Plymouth on the 19th May and then depart on day two of its trip around the UK on the 20th.

---

Elsewhere on the net

• How does travel on the "Eclipse" busway service match up to the promises on its website? Public Transport Experience
• people look back on the regulated 1970s with rose tinted specs or even perhaps rosé tinted glasses : ) But taking those specs off, what was it *really* like on the buses? The answer is “difficult”—but the industry got through. Omnibuses
• The line is completely automatic with no drivers or other staff on the train. Despite the comments quoted in yesterday's blog, there has been no significant outpouring of fear and panic because of the lack of a "conducteur". Public Transport Experience