£11m fund proposed to help electrify city’s buses

Sheffield City Council is proposing establishing a fund worth more than £11m to help bus operators move to electric buses, after it received approval from the Government.

It is planning a Local Zero Emission Bus (ZEB) Grant programme, with the aim of delivering at least 30 electric buses, taking some of the highest polluting vehicles off Sheffield’s streets.

As part of the plans to improve air quality, £11.3m is being made available to scheduled bus operators to deliver zero-emission buses on key routes in Sheffield as quickly as possible.

Investment in buses used on routes that service locations in Sheffield and Rotherham which exceed the legal emissions limit will be prioritised.

Councillor Ben Miskell, chair of the Transport, Regeneration and Climate Policy Committee at Sheffield City Council, said: “The introduction of more electric buses will be a major milestone as we continue to clean up the air we breathe and improve the passenger experience.

“After the previous government’s bus retrofit scheme failed, we refused to give up on improving the bus fleet and requesting support from government to back our efforts.

“I’m pleased the new government have listened and given us the flexibility needed to launch this new grant scheme, helping us to electrify Sheffield’s buses.

“We have seen some fantastic improvements in air quality levels in Sheffield, with all but five locations now under the annual average legal limit.

“Using this money to introduce  Zero Emission Buses will mean that figure has the potential to reduce even further.

“However, we have ambitions to convert all of Sheffield bus fleet to electric, but this isn’t possible without significant Government financial help, and we’re working with Ministers and South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard to try and secure such funding.”