Bus
operators, local authorities and transport authorities took part in bidding for
funds for new low emission buses.
From
Gov UK
Thirteen winners
receive share of low emission bus fund to add 326 new buses to their fleets.
Bus passengers will
benefit from cleaner, greener journeys thanks to £30 million of government funding confirmed today, Monday 25 July
2016, by Transport Minister Andrew Jones.
Bus operators and
local authorities across England have been awarded a share of the funding to
buy low emission buses and install chargepoints and other infrastructure. In
total, the 13 successful bidders
will be able to add 326 buses –
including electric, hybrid, hydrogen and biomethane buses – to their
fleets, and install more than £7 million worth of infrastructure.
Among the winners is
Sheffield City Region, which has been awarded £1.3 million for 44 buses fitted with hybrid technology.
During
a visit to the city, Transport Minister Andrew Jones said:
"My message is
clear – greener buses are good for passengers and good for British
business."
"Low emission
buses have already proved to be a real success across the country. They are
cost efficient, good for the environment, and there are wider benefits. We have
provided more than £2 billion of funding to greener transport schemes since
2011, and by supporting this technology the government is ensuring the UK is
driving innovation and investment up and down the country."
Other
successful bidders include:
·
West
Midlands Travel, which has been awarded more than £3 million to fund 10 hybrid and 19 fully electric buses, and
install electric charging facilities
·
Birmingham
City Council and Transport for London, which has jointly won £2.8 million for 42 state-of-the-art hydrogen fuel cell
buses
·
Merseytravel,
which has received £4.9million for a
total of 72 biomethane, hybrid or
electric buses and associated infrastructure
·
Nottingham
City Transport which has received £4.4 million for 53 biomethane buses and
infrastructure
Low emission buses
produce at least 15% fewer greenhouse
gas emissions than the average modern diesel bus but they typically cost
significantly more. The funding will cover up to 90% of the difference in cost between a new bus and its diesel equivalent, as well as up to 75% of the cost
of infrastructure.
The low emission bus
scheme builds on the Green Bus Fund, which saw £89 million of government funding put more than 1,200 green buses on England’s roads – representing 4% of buses in service.
The government has also invested more than £26
million since 2013 to retrofit more than 2,000 buses in pollution hotspots
with low emission technology.
The government’s
support for low emission buses is one part of a £600 million package of measures from the Office for Low Emission
Vehicles by 2020, which also includes £400
million of guaranteed money for individual plug-in car grants, investment
in ultra-low emission taxis, and research and development funding for
innovative technology such as lighter vehicles and better car batteries.
Here's
a full list of winning bids under the low emission bus scheme
Bidder
|
Type
of technology
|
Number
of buses
|
Funding
for buses
|
Funding
for infrastructure
|
Total
amount funded
|
Birmingham
City Council and Transport for London
|
Hydrogen
fuel cell
|
42
|
£2,814,000
|
£1,000,000
|
£3,814,000
|
Kingston
University
|
Hybrid
|
7
|
£347,400
|
£347,400
|
|
Merseytravel
|
Biomethane,
Electric, Hybrid
|
72
|
£4,701,629
|
£280,720
|
£4,982,349
|
Milton
Keynes Borough Council
|
Electric
|
11
|
£1,630,121
|
£127,500
|
£1,757,621
|
Nottingham
City Council
|
Electric
|
£921,154
|
£921,154
|
||
Nottinghamshire
County Council
|
Electric
|
2
|
£301,900
|
£225,000
|
£526,900
|
Nottingham
City Transport
|
Biomethane
|
53
|
£2,899,763
|
£1,533,638
|
£4,433,401
|
Reading
Buses
|
Biomethane
|
16
|
£63,655
|
£1,658,000
|
£1,721,655
|
Sheffield
City Region Combined Authority
|
Hybrid
|
44
|
£1,320,000
|
£1,320,000
|
|
Transdev
Blazefield
|
Electric
|
8
|
£1,440,000
|
£815,700
|
£2,255,700
|
Transport
for London
|
Electric
|
34
|
£4,584,000
|
£416,000
|
£5,000,000
|
West
Midlands Travel Limited
|
Hybrid,
Electric
|
29
|
£2,399,620
|
£675,000
|
£3,074,620
|
West
Yorkshire Combined Authority
|
Hybrid
|
8
|
£234,000
|
£234,000
|
|
TOTAL
|
326
|
£22,736,088
|
£7,652,712
|
£30,388,800
|
Information
taken from this page.
It’s
interesting how TFL has finally moved on to winning more zero emission buses from the Government’s green bus fund. Hopefully
in the near future we will see an end to new diesel orders and then orders
being placed for zero emission and diesel-electric hybrid buses from TFL
and London Bus operators.
We
are not long from seeing the end of new orders and deliveries for the 3 door 2
staircase hybrid bus known as the New Routemaster.
Here’s
an update from LOTS
Saturday 23 July
1) Arriva Southern
Counties has a batch of 14 new AD 10.5m E40D/E400MMCs (Nos 6485-6498) due quite
soon for Ware Garage to re-equip route 310 (Hertford & Waltham Cross). The 18 similar buses for Southend route 1
that had been due in November are now expected in September. ASC’s solitary StreetDeck (6801) based at
Gillingham is now being used routinely on service 700 (Chatham &
Bluewater). ASC’s ‘SXConnect’ blue
livery has now been eliminated with the repaint of B7RLE 3860.
2) In London, the new VHs of RATP-LU/LS that had been
ordered for route 72 - but which cannot operate there due to Hammersmith
Bridge restrictions – have in the past
week begun to enter service instead at Edgware, so far mixed in on route 13 but would inevitably stray to other routes
such as the 183. A trickle of
delivery continues of Metroline’s similar buses (their VWH class), these being
due for routes 140 and 182 at Harrow Weald during August and 114 from early
September.
3) Go-Ahead London has
received an Optare MetroDecker demonstrator at Bexleyheath, It is numbered OM1
and should become a regular on route 486 alongside WSD 1 the existing
StreetDeck demonstrator. The Mercedes-
engined StreetLite demonstrator WS65 at
New Cross is now in use on route 108.
Tuesday 19 July
The following TfL
contracts have been announced:
Tranche 532
42
- re-awarded to
London Central with new hybrid Euro VI double deck (currently
single deck), PVR 16. Start date 1 October. The route is extended from Denmark
Hill to East Dulwich Sainsbury's, via North Dulwich station and East Dulwich
Grove, no longer serving Sunray Avenue.
108
(24 hour)
- re-awarded to London Central with 2009
Euro V Mercedes Citaro single decks ex 507/521. Double deck journeys
operated with vehicles from 321 allocation. Re-routed between Poplar and
Stratford via Violet Road, Carpenters Road and Stratford City Bus Station to
terminate at Stratford City Station.
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