Wednesday 6 February 2019
New £48m grant to put bus emissions into reverse gear
The government has awarded £48 million of investment for zero emission bus projects to be rolled out across England and Wales.
Transport Minister Nusrat Ghani made the announcement at the UK Bus Summit this morning, with the funding supporting 263 new greener buses.
That is expected to save more than 14,00 tonnes of CO2 annually and takes the total number of ultra-low emission buses in Britain to 540.
The 19 successful bidders that will share the funding include Birmingham Airport, Cardiff City Council, Go North East, Stagecoach Manchester and Transport for London.
Ms Ghani also announced a new partnership with Greener Journeys to reflect the “pivotal role” played by the bus industry in tackling social isolation and loneliness.
Some of the initiatives already introduced include the ‘Chatty Bus’ campaign launched by Go Ahead Group, encouraging conversations between passengers and ‘Hattie’, a community bus from Stagecoach specifically designed to provide a “friendly environment” where people can chat to others.
The new partnership will see companies across the sector pledge to do all they can to tackle loneliness, including through innovative vehicle design as well ass initiatives to encourage bus passengers to talk to each other.
Buses Minister Nusrat Ghani said: “Buses are far more than a way of getting from A to B. They are a crucial tool in the fight against loneliness and it is good to see the industry taking steps to tackle isolation.
“This government is doing more than ever before to reduce emissions across all modes of transport and I’m delighted to see the bus industry putting itself at the forefront of this.”
Additional Information
The winning bidders are as follows:
[su_table]
| Bidder | Type of technology | Number of buses | Funding for buses | Funding for infrastructure | Total amount funded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham Airport | Electric | 6 | £711,000.00 | £664,500.00 | £1,375,500.00 |
| Brighton and Hove Buses | Hydrogen | 20 | £3,610,435.00 | £750,000.00 | £4,360,435.00 |
| Cardiff City Council | Electric | 36 | £5,356,000.00 | £341,000.00 | £5,697,000.00 |
| City of Wolverhampton | Electric | 1 | £128,000.00 | £15,000.00 | £143,000.00 |
| Coventry City Council | Electric | 10 | £1,556,375.00 | £698,625.00 | £2,255,000.00 |
| First Bus Manchester | Electric | 12 | £1,647,000.00 | £375,000.00 | £2,022,000.00 |
| First West Yorkshire | Electric | 9 | £1,275,747.00 | £494,725.50 | £1,770,472.50 |
| Go North East | Electric | 9 | £1,210,005.00 | £450,000.00 | £1,660,005.00 |
| Greater Manchester Combined Authority | Electric | 23 | £3,543,750.00 | £1,889,360.00 | £5,433,110.00 |
| Manchester Community Transport | Electric | 3 | £402,900.00 | £60,000.00 | £462,900.00 |
| Newport Transport | Electric | 1 | £210,864.00 | £786,795.00 | £997,659.00 |
| Nottingham City Transport | Infrastructure only (biomethane) | Infrastructure only | £0.00 | £1,129,125.00 | £1,129,125.00 |
| Nottinghamshire County Council | Electric | 4 | £608,000.00 | £300,000.00 | £908,000.00 |
| Stagecoach Manchester | Electric | 32 | £5,411,200.00 | £1,523,732.00 | £6,934,932.00 |
| Stagecoach South Wales | Electric | 16 | £1,941,835.00 | £900,000.00 | £2,841,835.00 |
| The Big Lemon | Electric | 5 | £560,167.00 | £0.00 | £560,167.00 |
| Transport for London | Electric | 63 | £3,456,000.00 | £3,500,000.00 | £6,956,000.00 |
| Trent Barton | Electric | 8 | £1,512,000.00 | £363,859.00 | £1,875,859.00 |
| West Yorkshire Combined Authority | Electric | 5 | £393,000.00 | £224,000.00 | £617,000.00 |
[/su_table]
