£12 million boost for greener bus journeys
£12 million funding for 213 new low carbon buses will cut carbon, encourage economic growth and provide better services for passengers.
Bus passengers in England are set to benefit from cleaner, greener bus journeys thanks to the 4th round of the Green Bus Fund announced by Local Transport Minister Norman Baker.
The £12 million funding for 213 new low carbon buses will deliver better services for passengers while also cutting carbon and delivering economic growth.
The Green Bus Fund aims to cut greenhouse gas emission levels and encourage bus operators and local councils to make the switch to more environmentally-friendly buses. In total 4 rounds of the fund, worth £87 million, will have delivered more than 1200 new low carbon buses in England, saving around 28,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
The government is paying up to half the cost difference between low carbon diesel-hybrid and biomethane gas buses and their standard diesel equivalent.
Five bus manufacturers will benefit from orders for their eco-friendly hybrid, electric and gas buses, with many of the buses being assembled in the UK. The manufacturers which stand to benefit are Alexander Dennis Limited, BYD, Optare, Scania and Volvo.
The winners, who will add 83 single-decker and 130 double-decker buses to their fleets, are spread across England and include Stagecoach and First Group. The local councils involved in the initiative include the City of York, Greater Manchester, Nottingham City and Transport for London.
Norman Baker has asked the department to explore options for further green initiatives to make full use of the remainder of the available funding in this financial year.
Local Transport Minister Norman Baker said:
Buses are an essential part of people’s day-to-day lives up and down the country and are a key tool for enabling economic growth. At the same time, we want this growth to be green, which is why we are investing in these brand new low carbon buses.
The last 3 rounds of the Green Bus Fund have shown that bus operators and local authorities are keen to invest in environmentally friendly technology, and it is encouraging to see this strong interest in ultra low emission vehicles continuing through the 4th round of the fund.
I’m glad these new technologies are breaking through into the mainstream. This further strengthens the case for operators in the UK to invest in ultra low emission technologies and achieve a step change in cutting carbon.
Notes to editors
Following a 3 month bidding process the department has approved 14 projects. The winners include 8 bus operators, receiving £4.1 million with £7.5 million split between 4 local authorities.
Five bus manufacturers will benefit from orders for their eco-friendly hybrid, electric and biomethane gas buses. They include: Alexander Dennis Limited, BYD, Optare, Scania and Volvo – many of which are based in the UK.
By switching to a low carbon buses, the winners who operate diesel-hybrid and biomethane gas buses will also be eligible to claim additional government subsidy through the Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) low carbon bus incentive to run these buses. Bus operators and local authorities will be given 6 pence per kilometre to support them with energy and fuel costs.
This is the 4th round of the Green Bus Fund and was launched with a budget of £20 million. A further announcement on spending the remainder of the budget will be made in due course.
Successful bidders:
- City of York Council – 2 fully-electric single-decker buses
- Courtney Coaches – 2 diesel-hybrid double-decker buses
- First Berkshire – 5 diesel-hybrid single-decker buses
- First York – 6 fully-electric single-decker buses
- Nottingham City Council – 15 fully-electric single-decker buses
- Reading Transport Limited – 14 biomethane gas single-decker buses
- Selwyns Travel Limited – 6 diesel-hybrid single-decker buses
- Stagecoach Manchester – 38 diesel-hybrid double-decker buses
- Stagecoach North East – 17 biomethane gas single-decker buses
- Transport for Greater Manchester – 3 fully-electric and 10 diesel-hybrid single-decker buses
- Transport for London – 4 fully-electric single-decker and 90 diesel-hybrid double-decker buses
- Yorkshire Coastliner Limited – 1 fully-electric single-decker bus
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