Coventry and Oxford are set to become the UK’s first all-electric bus cities, according to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps. The cities could be awarded up to £50m each to introduce all electric bus services, replacing up to 500 buses and saving 1000s of tonnes of CO2 each year.
The funding would also cover infrastructure development, including the building of charging stations and electric grid upgrades.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said, “As we build back greener from Covid-19, we can provide people with more environmentally-friendly transport and cleaner air. Coventry and Oxford could soon be at the forefront of our plans for a new era of bus services, helping us to develop the green transport network of the future and support jobs right here in the UK.”
Nineteen bids have been received from across England, demonstrating local area stakeholder buy-in, outlining existing emissions-reduction policy and showing how the plan would tackle existing air quality problems.
