Wednesday 30 October 2013

£1.4m green funding to cut bus pollution

The Government has pledged £1.4 million of extra cash for projects to reduce air pollution from public transport.

The latest round of funding sees Brighton and Hove, Sunderland, Oxford, York and Swale borough councils offered grants between £23,700 and £750,000 to retrofit 92 buses with exhaust emission reduction technology.

Transport Minister Baroness Kramer said: “This extra funding means more buses can be cleaned up so that they put out less pollution. Dozens of buses in five distinct areas will be improved with the money I am making available, improving air quality for local communities. It will also boost jobs and growth by helping to stimulate our cutting edge green technology.”

The new funding comes two months after an initial £5 million was awarded to 11 local authorities to remove harmful emissions from nearly 400 buses followed by another £1.1 million to five authorities to upgrade 45 buses.