Government invests extra £20 million to convert buses and lower emissions
Twenty local authorities have received funding to retrofit buses with technology that will reduce tailpipe emissions
The government has announced funding for 20 local authorities to help reduce tailpipe emissions from buses.
Almost £20 million will be distributed from the Clean Bus Technology Fund to councils across the country through 2018 and 2019, to allow buses to be retrofitted with pollution-busting technology.
This is in addition to £30 million invested in 300 low emission buses in 2016 and £11 million spent in 2017 on a further 150 busses.
Some of the technology being used to convert existing buses includes selective catalytic reduction systems fitted to exhausts, and hybrid powertrain and natural gas conversions. A government-funded accreditation process has been set-up to approve more emissions-reducing technology.
Speaking at the UK Bus Summit at London’s QE2 Centre, transport minister Nusrat Ghani said: “Buses and coaches are hugely important to those who rely on them and to the communities in which these people live and work.
“Road transport is going to change dramatically over the next couple of decades – and we have to make sure that the bus industry is ready to benefit from those changes.
“We have to move away from nose-to-tail car traffic at peak times, endless engine idling, stop-start travel and rising pollution and carbon emissions. Rather than contributing to the problem, buses and coaches very much form part of the solution.”
Environment minister Therese Coffey said: “Poor air quality affects public health, the economy and the environment, which is why we are determined to do more.
“I am delighted to see so many high quality applications to the Clean Bus Technology Fund and, as a result, the government has decided to bring forward funding meaning that we will award nearly £40 million to retrofit more than 2,700 buses.
“This is another way which the government is delivering on its commitment to improving the environment within a generation and leave it in a better state than we found it.”
The local authorities that will receive the largest funding for 2018/19 are Transport for West Midlands, Coventry City Council, Transport for Greater Manchester, Transport for London and Southampton City Council, each receiving £1.5m.
