£129m Fund Launched to Support Zero Emission Busses in England

Funding available to local transport authorities in England, outside London, to purchase Zero Emission Buses (ZEBs) and the infrastructure needed to support them.

In February 2020 the Prime Minister pledged to introduce 4,000 Zero Emission Buses (ZEBs).

Delivering on ambitions set out in the National Bus Strategy, the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas scheme (ZEBRA 1) provided funding for 1,300 ZEBs. This scheme supported the rollout of ZEBs, the development of ZEB technology and provided learning on the challenges of introducing ZEBs and their supporting infrastructure.

The Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas scheme (ZEBRA 2) is now open to applications and will provide £129 million to support the introduction of ZEBs.

Bids can be for vehicles or infrastructure, or both.

Local transport authorities in England, outside London, are eligible to apply.

There is up to £129 million available in total for the ZEBRA 2 scheme in financial years 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025. This will be a single-stage funding competition to award funding over both financial years.

£25 million funding will be initially reserved for proposals to introduce ZEBs in rural areas. This pot can be increased to up to £50 million if enough proposals of sufficient quality are received.

There is no minimum or maximum size for bids.

Applications must be submitted by the deadline of 15 December 2023. However, applicants should register their interest in applying by 20 October 2023.

(This report was the subject of a GRANTfinder Newsflash.)