UK government provides additional £129 million to fund zero-emission bus acquisitions across England
By Luke Willetts - 28th September 2023
Mark Harper, UK Transport Secretary
UK – Earlier this month the UK transport secretary, Mark Harper, announced that the government has allocated an additional GBP 129 million in funding to aid local authorities' acquisition of zero-emission buses. The funding is to be allocated and distributed by the Department of Transport under the UK government’s Zero Emission Buses Regional Area (ZEBRA, now ZEBRA 2) Scheme; a programme that was launched in 2021 to allow local transport authorities to bid for funding for zero-emission buses and supporting infrastructure. According to the UK government, the first round of ZEBRA funding put 1,300 new zero-emission buses on the road.
This expansion will aid more remote parts of the UK to benefit from decarbonised public transport which is why the government has prioritised the first GBP 25 million for rural communities and the local authorities that did not receive money in the previous round of ZEBRA funding. This brings the total investment in new zero-emission buses to almost GBP 500 million.
