A Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme (SULEBS) has been opened by the Scottish Government. It will provide £9m of funding towards vehicles and infrastructure and is a development of the well-established Scottish Green Bus Fund.
The money will cover up to 50% of the cost differential between a ULEB and a conventional diesel equivalent. That figure rises to up to 75% where the bus is zero-emission capable. For infrastructure, SULEBS will contribute up to 75% of the capital expenditure incurred via purchase and installation.
Scottish Ultra-Low Emission Bus Scheme uses LowCVP definition
SULEBS uses the already established LowCVP definition of a ULEB as part of its qualification criteria. That is to say, eligible models must reduce well-to-wheel greenhouse gas emissions over the UK Bus Test Cycle by 30% when compared to a Euro VI diesel bus of an equivalent passenger capacity.
Maximum bid value through SULEBS is capped at £4m. Winners will be awarded £150 per gram of CO2 equivalent saved against the baseline. A ‘top-up’ will be available to bidders that wish to purchase buses that are capable of zero-emission operation. It equates to £500 per km, with a cap of 80km.
The guidance document further states that SULEBS money is only available for “full-size” buses. It does not define what constitutes a “full-size” bus, but it says that minibuses are ineligible. Vehicles that benefit from the funding must enter service no later than September 2021.
Guidance additionally notes that the strongest bids will be those that demonstrate how the buses involved will operate regularly on roads suffering from poor air quality. Bids that aim to remove the most polluting buses from a fleet will also be favoured.
The closing date for bids is 6 September. Transport Scotland intends to announce the winners 15 days later, on 21 September.
CPT Scotland welcomes additional money for buses
The Confederation of Passenger Transport Scotland has welcomed SULEBS. Director Paul White says that while coronavirus COVID-19 has presented significant challenges for the industry, “we cannot lose sight of important elements of public transport policy such as air quality, decarbonisation and patronage growth.”
SULEBS complements almost £9m that was made available earlier this year for Euro VI retrofit in Scotland. That was via the third phase of the Bus Emissions Abatement Retrofit scheme. Transport Scotland estimated that money will pay for the upgrade of around 500 eligible coaches and buses.
