Investment call to help buses hit Low Emission Zone target
TRANSPORT bosses have said “significant investment” will be required to ensure buses in Glasgow can meet Low Emissions Zone requirements by the imposed deadline.
A report by the Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) has stated that it will be a challenge to bring nearly 1000 buses up to standard by final deadline of December 2022.
Scotland’s first Low Emission Zone will come into effect in Glasgow city centre on December 31 and will be introduced in phases – starting will local bus services.
By December 21, 2022, all vehicles entering the zone – spanning the area between the M8 motorway, River Clyde and High Street – will have to meet specified exhaust emission standards.
Petrol cars built after 2006 will be compliant with Euro 4 and all diesel cars built after 2015, will be held to Euro 6 standard.
Older cars can be retrofitted with diesel particulate filters to bring them up to standard.
Funding to convert buses to a Euro 6 standard is available through the Bus Emissions Abatement Retrofit Programme (BEAR) to licensed bus and coach operators, local authorities and community transport operators located in Glasgow.
It is believed that there will be around 225 Euro 6 buses operating in local services in the LEZ area by the end of this month, to be followed by a further 20 per cent every year until 2022.
To meet the proposed LEZ conditions, an estimated 500 additional Euro 4 and 5 buses currently operating in Glasgow will need to retrofitted.
A further 425 Euro 3 buses, which are nearing the end of their life, will also need to be replaced.
As previously reported by the Evening Times, First Glasgow launched a fleet of 75 new buses in October, serving initially on the 75 route from Castlemilk to Milton.
A report by SPT states: “Significant investment from both government sources to support retrofitting, and local bus operators to accelerate bus fleet replacement will be essential if targets are to be met.
“Whilst recent investment(s) in new Euro 6 (& Electric) buses serving Glasgow is most welcomed, the scale of bus retrofitting and accelerated bus fleet replacement challenge required to deliver 100 per cent of trips undertaken by Euro 6 Buses by 2022 should not be underestimated, particularly as a further 900 buses remain to be either retrofitted or replaced over a relatively short period.”