ELECTRIC buses could soon be spotted on roads around Leamington.
It comes after Coventry was chosen by government to to become one of the UK’s first all-electric bus cities.
As part of the award, up to 500 of its buses could be replaced.
The city, along with Oxford, fought off tough competition from 19 other places in the UK and will now receive up to £50million in funding.
And part of Coventry’s successful bid included proposals to electrify buses on key routes out into Warwickshire.
The route from the University of Warwick along the A46 is among these, with the proposal welcomed by Green Party councillor in South Leamington, Jonathan Chilvers.
He said: “This is great news. Electric buses on this route would significantly reduce dangerous air pollution in Leamington.
“We don’t know exactly what the future holds for travel, but we do know clean, regular, affordable buses are an important part of the picture. For too long buses have been seen as the poor relation for public transport, but done well they carry large numbers of people and therefore keep cars and traffic jams off the roads.
“For the last two years Green councillors have been pushing hard for a more strategic and high-profile approach to buses at the council and it’s good to see some of Warwickshire’s work starting to come to fruition.”
Subject to successful business cases, each area could be awarded up to £50million to not only replace its entire fleet of buses with all-electric versions, but to also install new infrastructure, such as charging stations, and pay for electric grid updates.
The change to a cleaner and greener bus fleet will help improve air quality and reduce emissions, helping further deliver on government’s efforts to decarbonise the transport network, as well as support local businesses and jobs in the UK developing green buses.
