Great Britain ushers in another round of funding

Great Britain is pushing the development of an emission-free fleet on the island. On March 26, the British government announced the provision of an additional £198.3 million for the procurement of 943 eco-friendly buses, including the necessary charging infrastructure.

The funds come from the ZEBRA program (Zero Emission Buses Regional Area), which was launched last year to allow local transport authorities to apply for funding to acquire emission-free buses.

Grants from the multi-million-pound package to provide electric or hydrogen-powered buses and charging or refueling infrastructure in their region have been awarded to:

• Norfolk
• North Yorkshire
• Portsmouth
• Blackpool
• Nottingham
• Greater Manchester
• Hertfordshire
• South Yorkshire
• Oxfordshire
• West Midlands
• York
• West Yorkshire

The British government expects that the emission-free buses will be able to reduce over 57,000 tons of carbon dioxide and an average of 22 tons of nitrogen oxides annually.

The announced funding commitments are part of the government's £3 billion National Bus Strategy, which also aims to significantly improve bus services with new priority lanes, lower and simpler fares, and more frequent services.

4,000 Zero-Emission Buses by 2025 is the Goal

The first orders have already been placed. Hundreds of additional emission-free buses have been funded in London, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. With the help of government grants, Transport for London was able to further expand its electric bus fleet with 300 vehicles – about 600 emission-free buses have been acquired in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The government emphasizes that it remains on track to fulfill its commitment to fund a total of 4,000 emission-free buses across the country – a promise made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2020.

What Does This Mean?

Within Europe, the British market for emission-free buses is developing very dynamically – and the British seem to continue to stay on the "accelerator" when it comes to funding.