- New initiatives launched to make buses more frequent, cheaper
and cleaner
- National drive to support skills across the bus industry
and help deliver improvements in services for passengers with new
Bus Centre of Excellence
- Leicester receives almost £3m for its electric bus fleet,
helping it become one of the first cities to run a fully electric
bus depot in England
A new initiative to upskill, recruit and retain a new generation
of bus professionals, alongside support to help our bus sector
get stronger, has been announced by the Roads Minister today (Tuesday 21 March).
Backed by £815,000 in Government investment, the new Bus Centre
of Excellence will bring together expertise from local
government, bus operators and industry to boost skills and
diversity in the bus sector.
As pledged in the Government’s National Bus Strategy, the new Bus
Centre of Excellence will give life to a new generation of bus
professionals to drive forward more reliable, affordable and
cleaner bus services. Hosted by the Chartered Institution of
Highways and Transportation, it will provide training
opportunities, direct access to resources and industry experts,
as well as networking events to uplift the capacity and
capability of the whole sector, working to encourage people to
get back on the bus.
The Bus Centre of Excellence's ambitions will complement the
continued decarbonisation of the national bus fleet, improving
the whole passenger experience, and today’s announcement comes as
the Government confirms £3 million for 18 brand new zero emission
buses in Leicester. The new buses will be manufactured in
Northern Ireland by Wrightbus and operated by First Bus,
supporting hundreds of high-skilled jobs and helping to grow the
economy.
This latest investment means all diesel buses at the operator
First Bus’s depot in Leicester will now be replaced with 86
electric buses funded by the Zero Emission Buses
Regional Areas (ZEBRA), making Leicester home to one of the
first bus depots in the UK to transition to fully
electric. In total Leicester has benefitted from nearly £22
million funding from the ZEBRA scheme to support 114 electric
buses.
Roads Minister said:
“Buses are the backbone of our transport network, providing
affordable travel for commuters, families, and pensioners, and
providing an economic lifeline for towns and cities around the
country.
“This multimillion investment for Leicester’s clean
transformation, coupled with the new Bus Centre of Excellence,
will help drive the country’s bus sector recovery and provide
passengers with cleaner, more affordable buses that run on time.”
Zero-emission buses are often cheaper to run, improving the
economics for bus operators, and are more reliable, reducing
repair costs and minimising delays.
The new ZEBs for Leicester build on the success of the existing
ZEBRA scheme, which was launched in 2021 to allow local transport
authorities to bid for funding for ZEBs zero emission buses and
supporting infrastructure.
The move brings total Government funding from the ZEBRA scheme to
almost £300 million for up to 1,400 zero emission buses in
England, taking the vision of a net zero transport network one
step closer to reality.
Neil Johnstone, President, Chartered
Institution of Highways and Transportation, said:
“CIHT has a proven track record of delivering high quality
continuing professional development for those working in the
transportation sector. We are delighted to be the chosen partner
to help work on improving this important sustainable transport
mode.”
“This partnership (alongside other government initiatives) will
see CIHT help to bring together a wide range of professional
skills and knowledge from both the public and private sector to
facilitate change to local infrastructure, service delivery and
the sector across the country – with the ultimate aim of
improving bus services.”
Janette Bell, Managing Director at First Bus,
said:
“We’re absolutely delighted that Leicester will become one of our
blueprint bus depots of the future, helping us to refine and
iterate this new concept so we can roll it out across the rest of
the UK. At First Bus, we’re continuing to trailblaze with our
partners to ensure we meet our net zero targets, supported by
co-funding from the Department for Transport.
“As leaders in sustainable mobility, we are fully aligned with
the Government’s ambitions for a net zero carbon transport
system. Through this co-funding with the ZEBRA scheme, we’re
excited to electrify another 5 of our UK depots before March
2024, and look forward to introducing even more electric buses to
our constantly growing fleet.“We cannot wait to see our
customers’ reactions once the project is complete, as we know the
difference this will make to the city. Electric really is the
future and we’re glad we can take our customers on this journey
with us.”
The new Bus Centre of Excellence initiative follows the £155
million announced last month to continue supporting bus services
up and down the country and providing affordable journeys by
extending the popular £2 bus fare cap.
This brings the total Government funding to protect buses at over
£2 billion since the pandemic, with a further £1 billion invested
to improve the quality of bus services through the Bus Service
Improvement Plans
