UK Government unveils plans for Britain’s first all-electric bus town
The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced plans for Britain’s first all-electric bus town.
The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced plans for Britain’s first all-electric bus town.
Local authorities can now apply to become the UK’s first all-electric bus town, setting the ‘gold-standard’ in environmentally friendly public transport.
The winning area will receive up to £50 million to help pay for a brand-new fleet of electric buses, reducing emissions and cleaning up the air in their community.
The Department for Transport say a town with 200 electric buses could save around 7,400 tonnes of CO2 each year, the equivalent to taking 3,700 diesel cars off the road.
The £50 million fund makes up part of the £170 million allocated today by the UK Government to improve services and make bus journeys greener, easier and more reliable.
Grant Shapps, Transport Secretary, said: “Buses carry more people than any other form of public transport in the UK, and with 200 electric buses able to offset 3,700 diesel cars, it is clear they have a crucial role to play in bringing down emissions.”
“But Britain’s first all-electric bus town is just the start. Helping deliver on our manifesto promise, this £170 million package will help us to create communities which are cleaner, easier to get around and more environmentally friendly, speeding up journeys and making them more reliable. By focusing on efficient and affordable transport, we will make greener journeys the natural choice.”
The government is also making it easier and more convenient to take the bus through a new £20 million fund to encourage the development and trial of on-demand ride sharing services in rural and suburban areas, helping people to plan their journeys down to the minute.
The fund will boost traditional services by helping people use bus travel to get closer to where they live, at a time that is convenient for them.
This week, the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson launched the UN Climate Summit COP26 in London. At the event Johnson announced that the UK would be bringing forward the date of when all new sales of petrol and diesel cars would be banned to 2035, five years earlier than the original target of 2040.
