York secures £475k to convert diesel buses to electric
Council awarded government money through the Clean Vehicle Technology fund
City of York council today (March 11) announced it has been awarded £475,000 in government funding to help convert five older diesel buses to electric in the city.
According to the council, the funding will help retrofit the diesel buses into zero emission motion vehicles, which it claims will entirely eliminate 2,000kg of nitrogen dioxide emissions from the city as the buses produce no pollution at the tailpipe.
York council has secured government funding to convert five diesel buses to electric
In addition, the council estimates the buses will cut carbon emissions by 95 tonnes, while the operating costs of the electric buses will save £75,000 per year.
The council said the electric range of the buses would be “more than enough” to complete a full day of driving, adding that the vehicles will charge overnight at their depot using “low carbon, off-peak electricity”.
York councillor David Levene, cabinet member of transport, planning and economic development at, said: “York is again leading the way in improving air quality and bus travel. We were the first city in the world to launch the new electric double decker bus earlier this year and the first city in the UK to adopt a Low Emission Strategy.”
There are three Air Quality Management Areas (AQMAs) in York where the national annual average objective of 40 microgrammes per cubic metre for nitrogen dioxide is being exceeded.
Cllr Tracey Simpson-Laing, Cabinet Member for Communities – which includes carbon reduction – said: “This will all feed into our adopted Air Quality Action plan, which will result in improved air quality for residents and everyone who visits the city.”
According to the council, the latest public health outcome figures estimate that around 80 deaths each year in York are attributable to air pollution.
Also today, York council was shortlisted as one of 12 cities in the running to receive a share of the government’s £35 million fund to become ‘centres of excellence’ for low emission vehicles (see airqualitynews.com story).
This news is massively welcome! Well done to the councillors who have negotiated this.
As a resident in one of the AQMA areas in York, I have first hand experience of breathing the air when I cycle and walk down Salisbury Terrace – a narrow terraced one way street which has the long bendy park-and-ride buses and many cars and vans for York regularly passing through.
The Park and Ride buses are welcomed passing through our neighbourhood, since each bus passing through represents many cars not passing through, and York Council are right to be pushing Park and Ride so hard. So even diesel Park and Ride buses are a good thing, but electric buses are welcomed so much more!
Bring on the clean air!