Government pledges £15m towards electric buses

Date: 15/10/2010

The government will spend £15 million on new hybrid and electric buses, it has been announced.

Local authorities and private operators bid for grants in the second round of the Green Bus Fund and the winners will now be able to purchase around 170 vehicles in total.

The Department for Transport estimates 50,000 tonnes of CO2 will be saved as a result of the initiative and low-carbon buses will be in operation in most of the UK's major cities by March 2012.

Local Transport Minister Norman Baker said these vehicles use 30 per cent less fuel and emit almost a third less carbon than normal buses.

"This sector therefore has tremendous potential to reduce the impact of road transport on climate change. The Green Bus Fund is vital to unlocking this potential and will also stimulate a growing market," he remarked.

The news comes after a bid for funding for an electric vehicle infrastructure was made in Northern Ireland by the Department for Regional Development and the Department for the Environment.

Posted by Nick Anderson