The mayor of the Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram, is moving quickly to add nearly 60 publicly owned electric buses to the region’s fleet of zero-emission buses.
In order to strengthen the region’s publicly owned zero-emission fleet, a bid has been made to secure £31 million in funding for 58 fully electric double-deckers. These would be added to the current fleet of hydrogen buses. The Combined Authority would contribute £20 million of its own funds as a match.
The rollout of new green, zero-emission buses is a key part of the Mayor’s plans to revolutionise the city region’s bus network. He made a historic decision in October to retake control of the area’s bus system following nearly 40 years of deregulation. Through franchising, the area will be able to better regulate routes, rates, and schedules and guarantee that any profits are returned to the network to enhance passenger services.
Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram said:
“Devolution has given our area the chance to build the 21st century London-style transport system that passengers deserve. From voting to take back control of our buses, investing in a brand new publicly owned hydrogen fleet, introducing £2 fares and bringing back the night bus, we’re transforming our network for the better.
“More people get the bus than any other form of public transport. Like with our new publicly owned trains, they deserve to travel on clean, modern and accessible vehicles. I’m investing to ensure that the Liverpool City Region has a bus fleet to be proud of – one that makes travelling better for passengers and for our planet too.”
The bid will be discussed at the Combined Authority (CA) meeting on Friday, December 15, which is next week.
The money would come from the most recent round of the Zero Emission Bus Regional Area Fund (ZEBRA 2), which pays up to 75% of the price differential between buses with diesel engines and zero-emission vehicles.
READ MORE: NEW PUBLICLY OWNED HYDROGEN BUSES HIT STREETS OF THE LIVERPOOL CITY REGION
