Scotland enters second phase of bus subsidy programme
The Scottish Government is launching the second phase of its Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB). Up to £58 million is to be made available for the procurement of zero-emission buses and associated infrastructure.
In the first round of the Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund, the Scottish Government awarded over £62 million to replace 276 old diesel buses with new electric buses and charging infrastructure. In the first round, bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis Limited had played a major role in the electrification of Scotland’s bus fleets, providing half of the initially ordered new electric buses at 137 vehicles. The result of the first round saw the number of electric buses in Scotland rise to a total of nearly 600 vehicles.
Paul Davies, Alexander Dennis President and Managing Director said: “We are delighted to host the Scottish Government’s launch of ScotZEB 2 right here in our Larbert facility, which we are currently upgrading to make it a manufacturing centre of excellence for our zero-emission buses.”
“The Scottish Government has already invested £113 million towards 548 zero-emission buses and supporting infrastructure, and I’m really pleased to now be making a further £58 million available,” said Minister for Transport Kevin Stewart on the efforts the Scottish government had made thus far. “Launching the second phase of the ScotZEB Challenge Fund honours this Government’s pledge to drive forward a fully decarbonised future for Scotland’s buses; supporting operators of all sizes, including community transport, school bus and coach operators to transform their vehicles to zero-emissions and install infrastructure which can be shared with other fleets to help them make the switch too.”
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