Transport Minister launches another lap for Scottish Green Bus Fund (SGBF)

A further £3 million is being made available from this year’s Future Transport Fund as part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to promoting Low Carbon Vehicles

Transport Minister Derek Mackay announced the details of this latest round of funding for public bus services during a visit to First Bus in Glasgow.

Mr Mackay said:

“I am delighted to announce this £3 million in the latest round of the Scottish Green Bus Fund for 2015-2016.

“Increasing the number of low carbon vehicles in the Scottish fleet achieves a number of government aims – helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality by accelerating the replacement of older, more polluting vehicles.

“The newer greener vehicles can be used to attract more passengers and also benefit manufacturers by increasing demands for their more innovative products.”

Over the past five rounds of SGBF funding, Transport Scotland has provided grant funding totalling almost £13 million enabling 269 new low carbon emission buses introduced to the Scottish bus fleet introduce by March 2016.

First in Scotland were among the operators to apply for SGBF grants and last year received total grant funding of £920k . In First Glasgow, Scotland's biggest bus company, this was used to support its purchase of 75 new vehicles (51 singles and 24 double deckers).

Both sets of vehicles are equipped with technology to further reduce fuel consumption and emissions over and above the standard equivalent models, thanks to the grant funding.

They also feature Euro 6 Engines, making them among the greenest in the county.

Test results show that running eight Euro 6 buses produces the same amount of certain exhaust emissions, including Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx) and Particulate Matter (PM), as running one bus with a Euro 5 engine.

Fiona Kerr, Managing Director of First Glasgow, said:

“We’ve invested over £14million in 75 new buses this year alone, of which £7.4million is for 47 state-of-the-art green vehicles, supported already by the Scottish Government's Green Bus Fund.

“That investment is encouraging more people to use the bus, positively impacting congestion and the city’s co2 emissions. The Fund is a great initiative and has certainly helped First Glasgow and other operators put greener, more fuel efficient vehicles on our roads.”

Further details on the SGBF and application forms can be found at http://www.transportscotland.gov.uk/public-transport/scottish-green-bus-fund