Sir Ed Davey MP visits York bus depot to see local decarbonisation efforts
Leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Ed Davey MP joined Council Leader Keith Aspden on a visit to the First York depot on Saturday (18th March) to find out more about efforts to electrify the bus fleet and improve air quality across York.
York is amongst only 5 local councils which at the start of March successfully secured an additional £1.8m funding to further electrify the local bus fleet. This follows the purchase of 44 electric buses from British manufacturer Wrightbus last year.
The First York bus fleet will become fully electric by 2024 – one of only two depots outside of London to run fully electric fleets.
York’s Low Emission Strategy (LES) has proved effective at tackling emissions from essential service vehicles such as buses, taxis and HGVs, as the city met its air quality target for all pollutants over the last few years. This continues the general downward trend in NO2 concentrations monitored across the city since 2012.
As work continues towards becoming an internationally recognised ultra-low emission city, Sir Ed took the opportunity to visit the depot to see the new electric buses and also discuss the impact of the current bus crisis on local services.
Pictures of the visit can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/EdDaveyYork
Ed Davey MP, Leader of the Liberal Democrats, commented:
“It was great to see first-hand the major strides York has made to decarbonise its public transport network and improve air quality. Already being known as a place of innovation and progress, it’s great to see York lead the way once again as it’s set to have one of the only depots outside of London running fully electric fleets.
“This is a testament to the hard work and leadership of the Liberal Democrats in York.
“It’s clear that across York we are seeing a bus crisis caused by the Government. They’re causing uncertainty and putting future of services at risk.
“Passengers need to know that their bus to get to work is still going to be there beyond the end of June. This is becoming a major issue and the Government really needs to wake up and act now before it’s too late.”
Council Leader Councillor Keith Aspden, added:
“Improving the city’s air quality has been an issue Liberal Democrats have prioritised in York, from launching the UK’s first voluntary Clean Air Zone, leading the way nationally with the introduction of the largest zero emission Park & Ride fleet in the country and now further electrification of our wider bus fleet, to investing in initiatives across the city which aim to tackle air pollution. These include tree planting, electric car charging network and electric waste vehicles, and we will continue to do more.”