Almost £200m to roll out zero emission buses nationwide

The government has announced nearly £200 million in funding to roll out almost 1,000  zero emission buses.

Twelve areas in England, from Greater Manchester to Portsmouth, will receive grants to deliver electric or hydrogen powered buses, as well as charging or fuelling infrastructure, to their region.

The funding comes from the Zero Emission Buses Regional Area (ZEBRA) scheme, which was launched last year to allow local transport authorities to bid for funding to purchase zero emission buses.

The £198.3 million of funding will provide 943 buses. It builds on almost £71 million announced last year to support up to 335 new zero emission buses in five areas, and a further £50 million funding for the UK’s first All Electric Bus City, Coventry, supporting up to 300 buses. It also adds to 100 buses funded by previous funding schemes.

The first orders have already been placed. Hundreds more zero emission buses have been funded in London, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The move is expected to remove over 57,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year from the country’s air, as well as 22 tonnes of nitrogen oxides on average each year, as government continues to go further and faster to achieve net zero, clean up the transport network and build back greener.

It is also part of the government’s wider £3 billion National Bus Strategy to significantly improve bus services, with new priority lanes, lower and simpler fares, more integrated ticketing and higher frequencies.

Jobs in the bus manufacturing industry – based largely in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England – will be supported as a result of the move. Zero-emission buses are also cheaper to run, improving the economics for bus operators.