£57m of funding unlocked for green bus programme
West Yorkshire is set to receive £24m from Government as part of its investment into almost 1000 new zero emission buses across the country.
The region will see this central funding matched by a £33m investment from local bus operators according to West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin.
Tracy Brabin
Brabin noted that: “A green, zero-emission bus system is a core element of the Combined Authority’s long-term vision for buses in West Yorkshire.”
She explained the organisation has already allocated £4 million of its own funds to introduce zero-emission buses in Kirklees and Calderdale, funded through the Transforming Cities Fund.
This latest round of funding will bring 101 green buses to Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds, operated by Arriva, First and Transdev.
The investment, one of the largest made by Government through its Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) fund, comes as other Yorkshire areas secured a total of 110 new buses – 27 for. South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, 44 for City of York Council and 34 for North Yorkshire County Council.
Over the Pennines Transport for Greater Manchester received investment equal to 170 buses.
Announcing the investment on Saturday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he was committed to levelling up and cleaning up the UK’s transport network.
He added: “Not only will this improve the experience of passengers, but it will help support our mission to fund 4,000 of these cleaner buses, reach net zero emissions by 2050 and build back greener.”
The £198.3m UK wide investment is expected to remove over 57,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year from the country’s air, as well as 22 tonnes of nitrogen oxides on average each year, as the Government looks to meet its pledge of funding 4,000 zero emission buses.
