Government announces winners of Green Bus Fund
Thu 03 December 2009
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The Department for Transport has announced the winners of the Green Bus Fund which aims to encourage bus operators and local authorities to buy new low carbon buses. The DfT says that the Fund will support the purchase of 349 vehicles which will operate in most of England's main cities and some rural areas by March 2012.
Buses supported under the Green Bus Fund will operate in London, Manchester, Stockport, Oxford, Bristol, Bath, Leeds, Birmingham, Reading, Taunton, Coventry, Liverpool, Milton Keynes, Sunderland, Nottingham, Stratford, Durham, Ipswich, Ormskirk and rural Cumbria.
Announcing the winning bids for the fund, Transport Minister Sadiq Khan said: "Both the environment and British industry is receiving a major boost from this £30m fund. It gives the initial support needed to stop the rise in bus CO2 emissions we've seen over the last ten years.
"It will also give UK bus manufacturers the certainty they desperately need to allow them to keep their skilled labour force and continue to lead the way in green innovation."
The fund will enable bus operators and councils in every region across England to fund the up-front cost of buying low carbon buses. As more low carbon buses are produced and sold, costs are expected to fall. This will encourage the introduction of new bus technology and stimulate the market for low carbon buses, an industry in which the UK is a world leader.
The Government says that the bus industry estimates that up to 1000 jobs will be safeguarded as a result of this investment.
Low carbon buses are defined as using at least 30 per cent less fuel and emitting nearly a third less CO2 than an equivalent conventional bus. Funded buses will also be required to meet stringent air quality standards.
Jonathan Murray the Deputy Director of the LowCVP, which has worked closely with the DfT in the development and roll-out of the Green Bus Fund, said: "This announcement is a very encouraging and important step in encouraging the bus industry to move in a greener direction. Bringing these 349 buses on to the road will provide invaluable experience in the deployment of low carbon bus technologies and should help to stimulate the wider industry to seize the opportunities presented by the low carbon markets of the future."
For more information on low carbon buses, please visit the LowCVP's low emission bus microsite via the associated link.
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