Cleaner, greener bus journeys thanks to £30M funding

Bus passengers will benefit from greener, cleaner journeys, after government confirm £30M low emission bus fund.

The government yesterday confirmed a funding pot of £30M, to be shared between 13 winning bus fleets across the UK, which will provide cleaner, greener journeys for passengers.

The announcement was made by Transport Minister Andrew Jones, and will award bus operators and local authorities across England, a share of the funding to buy low emission buses and install chargepoints and other infrastructure.

The 13 successful bidders can add a total of 326 buses, including electric, hybrid, hydrogen and biomethane buses to their fleets, and install more than £7M worth of infrastructure.

Sheffield City Region has been awarded £1.3M for 44 buses that are fitted with hybrid technology, and West Midlands Travel, has been awarded more than £3M to fund 10 hybrid and 19 fully electric buses, and install electric charging facilities.

Birmingham City Council and Transport for London has jointly won £2.8M for 42 state-of-the-art hydrogen fuel cell buses.

Merseytravel has received £4.9M for a total of 72 biomethane, hybrid or electric buses and associated infrastructure.

Nottingham City Transport has received £4.4M for 53 biomethane buses and infrastructure.

On a visit to Sheffield City, Transport Minister Andrew Jones said: “My message is clear – greener buses are good for passengers and good for British business.

“Low emission buses have already proved to be a real success across the country. They are cost efficient, good for the environment, and there are wider benefits. We have provided more than £2 billion of funding to greener transport schemes since 2011, and by supporting this technology the government is ensuring the UK is driving innovation and investment up and down the country.”

Low emission buses produce at least 15% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than the average modern diesel bus but they typically cost significantly more.

The funding will cover up to 90% of the difference in cost between a new bus and its diesel equivalent, as well as up to 75% of the cost of infrastructure.

The Green Bus Fund saw £89M of funding allow for 1,200 green buses on England’s road, with the government also investing more than £26M since 2013, to retrofit more than 2,000 buses in pollution hotspots with low emission technology.

The post Cleaner, greener bus journeys thanks to £30M funding appeared first on UK Construction Online.