Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) has announced plans to ensure a growing number of its supported local bus services will be operated by zero-emission vehicles. This would be a major investment in the fleet and demonstrate SPT’s commitment to the decarbonisation of public transport in the west of Scotland.

SPT owns a small fleet of 41 diesel buses to support delivery of our local bus services, these vehicles are between eight and 12 years old. With the launch of phase two of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB2) SPT has put together a comprehensive bid to introduce zero emission buses to our fleet. This would see an investment by SPT of more than £10.9 million with a request from ScotZEB funding of £5.8 million from the fund to support transition to a zero-emission fleet.

SPT Chief Executive Valerie Davidson said:

“This is a massive investment and commitment from SPT to really make a difference and move to a green supported bus fleet. Putting this bid together has taken considerable time and discussion with the fund officials, financers, bus manufacturers and operators. The result is a really strong bid which, with the help of ScotZEB funding, could make a real difference to transport in some of our most deprived and vulnerable areas.”                                

In a paper to go to SPT’s Strategy and Programmes Committee this Friday (8 September), SPT has set out details of our own consortium bid for:

• 12 40-seater full sized single deck battery electric zero emission buses at estimated £395,000 per bus (excluding VAT) = £4.7m in total.
• 18 25-seater battery electric zero emission midi buses at estimated £365,000 per bus (excluding VAT) = £6.6m in total.
• 13 16-seater battery electric zero emission minibuses at estimated £250,000 per bus (excluding VAT) = £3.3m in total.
• Approximately nine bus operator’s depot upgrades to support operation of new vehicles estimated = £2.2M
• TOTAL COST £16.7 million

Chair of SPT’s Strategy and Programmes Committee Councillor Alan Moir added:

“Applying to this fund is difficult for Regional Transport Partnerships and local authorities as it requires significant contributions from their own resources at a time when resources are significantly stretched. Despite this, I am delighted the team have managed to pull together a meaningful bid, that, if successful, will see a significant transition to a greener fleet.”