UK bus operator First Bus has announced that it will invest £70 million to bring a further 160 zero-emission buses to its network in the West of England.
The new zero-emission buses will run through the low-emission vehicle zone in Bristol, while also operating in Bath. The additional 160 vehicles will bring the total number of electric First Buses operating in the region to 258, which transports over 750,000 passengers per week. Twenty-seven of the 160 new vehicles will be repowered diesel buses, which the transport operator says will further help to improve air quality.
Of this investment, £20 million was secured through the latest round of the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Zero Emission Bus Regional Area (ZEBRA) funding scheme. This funding scheme previously supplied £16 million of investment into a project by First Bus and Heliox to develop five new electric bus depots in Bristol, Weston-super-Mare, Minehead, Taunton and Basildon. Following the recent electrification of two depots in Bath and Bristol, four out of five of First Bus’ regional depots will be fully electrified by next year.
The company has pledged to operate a fully zero-emissions fleet by 2035. Across the entire UK, the company already has over 1,000 zero-emissions buses on the road.
Janette Bell, managing director for First Bus, called this next stage of investment “a significant milestone” towards the company’s efforts to decarbonise its fleet, adding that the firm is “thrilled” that customers in the West of England can benefit from government co-funding for transport decarbonisation projects like these.
She added: “We’re proud to continue to lead the way in sustainable mobility, and work with central and local governments across the UK to strive to meet our national decarbonisation commitments. With each milestone we’re one step closer to becoming a nation who loves and uses the bus.”
Depot sharing to support communities
While developing its own zero-emission bus depots, First Bus has been seeking to share the use of these facilities with other companies in order to accelerate the transition to an EV future.
In November of last year, energy company Centrica became the latest company to sign into a shared infrastructure initiative with First Bus. Under this initiative, which also serves Openreach, DPD and Police Scotland, Centrica engineers travelling in the company’s EVs will be able to use First Bus’ rapid EV chargers when buses are away from the depot. This initiative will operate at a number of First Bus depots across the UK.
