COVENTRY now has 50 new greener buses on its streets as part of a £150million project to create Britain’s first all-electric bus city, bringing the city’s total to 60.
Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) has been working with the City Council on the scheme, securing £50milion from the Department for Transport to work on the charging infrastructure.
The cash has supplemented the investment bus operators have made in adding electric vehicles to their fleets.
The new National Express Coventry double-decker buses are the first of up to 300 new vehicles to be hitting the streets over the next three years under the ‘Coventry Electric’ programme.
Over a third of National Express Coventry’s fleet is now electric and another 80 are planned for early next year.
Coun Jim O’Boyle, Coventry City Council’s cabinet member for jobs, regeneration and climate change, said: “Hitting a milestone of 50 new all-electric vehicles is fantastic and the city is really gearing up to create the right infrastructure for the increase in zero-emission vehicles.
“A quarter of the council’s fleet is now all-electric, and we have 607 charging points in the city – more than any other city outside of London.
“We are very proud to say that Coventry will be the country’s first all-electric bus city.”
