The Scottish Government has awarded just over £1m for low emissions buses in Glasgow as the country’s first low emission zone (LEZ) came into force in the city.
The eighth round of the Scottish Green Bus Fund has resulted in £1.14m being awarded to First Glasgow and Glasgow Airport to encourage more low carbon emission buses.
A sign advertising the LEZ in Bothwell Street, Glasgow
It came as the first phase of Glasgow’s LEZ, which initially affects local service buses, went live at the turn of the year.
Cabinet secretary for transport, infrastructure and connectivity Michael Matheson said: ‘The Scottish Government committed to introducing Low Emission Zones into Scotland's four biggest cities between 2018 and 2020. Glasgow is the first city to implement a zone, working with the bus industry to respond to the particular air quality challenges within Glasgow city centre.
‘To help support this transition, we have provided over £10m in 2018 to assist with local authority delivery and the costs associated with bus retrofit technology, and this is addition to eight years of the Scottish Green Bus Fund which has been very successful in evolving and encouraging a greener fleet.'
Cllr Anna Richardson, Glasgow City Council’s convener for sustainability and carbon reduction, said: ‘Delivering cleaner air is a priority for our city and so I'm delighted that Glasgow has led the way by introducing Scotland's first LEZ.'
She added: ‘Whilst it'll be another four years before the emission standards required to enter our LEZ will apply to all vehicles, we want to raise awareness early to ensure that everyone is informed and has time to prepare.’
Last May Transport Scotland announced that the eighth round of the Green Bus Fund would operate as a challenge fund with a fixed budget of around £1.7m in 2018-2019.
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