UK government commits £86m to clean Greater Manchester’s air, including 40 electric buses

  • The UK government has announced an £86 million scheme to clean up the air in Greater Manchester, with part of this funding going towards delivering 40 more electric buses to the city’s streets.
  • The funding will also help deliver charging infrastructure for electric buses in the area.
  • In total, the £86 million going to various decarbonisation objectives has been selected in place of a previously planned ‘Clean Air Zone’ for Greater Manchester, but still carries the same objective of reducing local air pollution.

40 more electric buses headed to Manchester as one part of £86m plan

Breaking down the £86 million worth of funding, £51.1 million is going directly towards bus investment – which includes 40 fully-electric buses, charging infrastructure to support these buses, and 77 lower emission ICE buses. The funding also includes £8 million to help Greater Manchester-licensed taxi drivers to upgrade to cleaner vehicles – such as EVs. Unlike London, where Transport for London has set a mandate of all licensed taxis to be fully-electric by 2033. Greater Manchester has not yet set such a goal, but with this new funding, this could be more feasible.

The remaining £26.9 million is going towards measures such as local traffic management schemes, and administration, delivery, and monitoring of the various schemes.

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Minister for the Future of Roads, Lilian Greenwood, commented:

“Having completed the groundbreaking Bee Network buses, Greater Manchester is making fantastic progress in building a modern, sustainable and truly integrated transport network. Manchester will be able to reduce pollution from transport without having to charge motorists, and new, cleaner buses will help Mancunians get around easily while still bringing down emissions across the city. We will continue to work with local leaders to create better connected communities, meet our climate targets and make Britain a clean energy superpower as part of our Plan for Change.”

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