On the 22nd of March, I announced in my role as Secretary of State for Transport that Gloucestershire County Council will be receiving £5,900,000 to introduce 58 brand-new zero-emission buses across the County. This means that more than 20 per cent of Gloucestershire’s buses will be electric and many of my constituents will be able to enjoy cleaner, more reliable and more comfortable journeys.
The funding comes from the second round of the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) programme, which will see new electric buses in towns, villages and cities across England, including the most rural parts of the country, which are more difficult to decarbonise. The County Council worked with bus operators Stagecoach, Pulhams and Lydney Dial a Ride to submit a joint funding application to the ZEBRA programme.
Thanks to the scheme, no other European country registered as many electric buses in 2023 as the UK, with zero-emission buses accounting for almost half of all new large buses introduced last year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The County Council estimates that the benefits of this investment will include the removal of 59,069 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions and 30 tonnes of nitrogen oxide emissions over the lifetime of the buses, supporting their aim of becoming carbon net zero by 2045 and helping to create a greener Gloucestershire.
It is not just local buses which have recently received a boost on their journey to net zero. Recently Gloucestershire County Council was awarded £3,107,000 from my Department’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Capital Fund to step up their already impressive Electric Vehicle (EV) charge point installation programme. At the end of March, the County Council installed nearly 130 charge points across Gloucestershire including at Church Street in Newent, Templeway West in Lydney and Station Street in Cinderford.
The Government understands how important the reliability and availability of charge points are for EV drivers, and drivers considering an EV as their next vehicle. That is why, as of the 1st March 2024, the Government and industry have supported the installation of over 56,983 publicly available charging devices nationwide, including more than 10,921 rapid devices.
Finally, Gloucestershire’s EVs and zero-emission buses will also drive on smoother roads thanks to £87.9 million of reallocated HS2 funding to be spent over the next 11 years, with the B4234 at Lower Lydbrook, the B4231 at Church Road in Lydney, the B4215 from Gloucester Street to Malswick Cottages in Newent and the A4136 at Longhope Road in Little London all set to be resurfaced in the upcoming financial year.
📢 £143m for brand new, zero emission buses
🚍 The £2 bus fare cap extended to the end of 2024, made possible by reallocated HS2 funding
✅ All part of our plan to invest in better local transport across the country
👉 https://t.co/wHf1LVgpAM pic.twitter.com/GvG2a7PPJE
— Mark Harper (@Mark_J_Harper) March 22, 2024
This column was first published in The Forester newspaper.