7 September 2011
Greener bus announcement
Scottish Government should make every bus in Scotland a low-emission bus
Transform Scotland [1] today welcomed the Scottish Government announcement of funding for greener buses for Lothian Buses, but called for the Government to ensure all new buses in Scotland are low-emission.
Transform Scotland spokesperson Calum McCallum said:
"Transport Scotland's announcement of new hybrid buses for Edinburgh is welcome. It will bring about emission reduction and, importantly, supports bus manufacturing capacity in Scotland.
"However, the progress being made is not enough and is too slow. The Scottish Greener Bus Fund, while a welcome measure, will lead to only 48 new low emission buses out of the more than 4000 currently on the roads. If the Government wants to demonstrate that it is taking emissions reduction seriously then it should commit to ensuring every new bus bought in Scotland is low emission."
Calum continued:
"The Scottish Greener Bus Fund is providing £4.4m for 48 new low-emission buses, an average of around £92,000 per bus. The Aberdeen western bypass is due to cost up to £395m (although we suspect it would end up costing much more). With around 4400 buses in Scotland, the Scottish Government could afford to extend the Scottish Greener Bus Fund to replacing the entire Scottish bus fleet so that they are all low-emission hybrid buses.
"The Government cannot say that there aren't funds available. It could start by cancelling the destructive Aberdeen western bypass proposal. By diverting the funds into green bus manufacturing, it could make every bus in Scotland a low-emission, hybrid bus. This would not only make a serious dent in Scotland's climate emissions but, given that the UK's leading builder of hybrid buses is a Scottish company, it would also provide employment for Scottish workers. Instead, the government is intent on spending billions of taxpayers' money on international consortia to build new roads and bridges which will create more traffic, more congestion, and more emissions."
ENDS
Notes to Editors
[1] Transform Scotland is the national sustainable transport alliance, bringing together rail, bus and shipping operators, local authorities, national environment and conservation groups, businesses and local transport groups - see <http://www.transformscotland.org.uk/members.aspx> for details.
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