March 22 2024
Welcoming an announcement made today by Mark Harper, Secretary of State for Transport, Alison Edwards, Director of Policy & External Relations at the Confederation of Passenger Transport said,
“CPT welcomes this latest allocation of £143m from Government to help accelerate vital public and private investment in new zero emissions vehicles and charging infrastructure.
“We also welcome Government’s recognition of the particular difficulties faced by rural areas in moving to zero emission bus fleets, as set out in CPT’s Rural Zero Emission Bus Taskforce’s (RZEBT) recent report .”
“The transition to a zero emissions bus fleet is a huge opportunity for Britain to lead the world in creating a modern zero emission bus network that offers a growing number of passengers one of the most sustainable forms of transport.”
Under the second round of the UK Government's Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) programme 25 councils across England keen to decarbonize their bus fleets are to receive a total of £143m in funding for up to 955 new electric buses, with many rural parts of the country getting zero-emission buses for the first time.
In a report published on 28 February a taskforce of industry experts and stakeholders convened by CPT outlined how rural areas can become a driving force for the UK’s transition to a zero emission bus fleet and called for local transport authorities to produce decarbonisation strategies and for long-term Government investment.
CPT continues to engage with government, Local Transport Authorities and other key stakeholders to ensure that all necessary measures are introduced to deliver the environmental, and social benefits of a bus network that is continuously improving and ensures rural bus services, and passengers, are not left behind.
Read the DfT announcement here.