THE first electric open-top double decker bus has arrived in Oxford – helping to reduce air pollution ahead of the launch of the city's Zero Emission Zone.
The bus is the first of five open-top City Sightseeing Oxford buses, owned by the Oxford Bus Company, that are being retrofitted to electric.
City Sightseeing Oxford buses operate one hour guided hop-on, hop-off open-top tours of the city and take in the best tourist attractions. Each bus is fitted with recorded commentaries in 13 different languages.
The funding for the buses was provided to Oxford City Council from the Government’s Clean Bus Technology Fund.
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In February 2018, Oxford City Council was awarded £1.7m to retrofit 78 buses to the ultra-low emission Euro 6 standard, and to convert five open-top double decker buses to electric.
Phil Southall, City Sightseeing Oxford and Oxford Bus Company managing director, said at today's launch: “This is an exciting landmark day in Oxford’s journey towards improving air quality in the city via the introduction of more sustainable modes of transport.
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"We’re proud to deliver the first electric double decker bus in the city in partnership with the city council.”
In March 2019, the city council secured a further £700,000 to upgrade an additional 37 city buses to Euro 6 standard to help reduce toxic air pollution, bringing the total government funding to improve Oxford’s buses to £2.3m, with a total of 115 buses being upgraded.
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Oxford Bus Company has so far completed 65 of its 71 vehicle upgrades under this programme.
The bus company has made an investment of £350,000, including an investment of £80,000 to install the charging equipment for the double decker sightseeing buses, including a battery storage system to harness the energy produced by their solar panels.
Tom Hayes, the city council’s cabinet member for Zero Carbon Oxford, said: “I am thrilled that Oxford’s first electric open-top double decker bus has arrived in Oxford.
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"2020 is the year that we will see the start of the Oxford Zero Emission Zone.
"Cleaner buses mean that we will have cleaner air and improved health for everyone living, working, and commuting in the city.”
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Over the past two years the bus company has conducted several trials of single decker electric buses on its services, the most recent of these being a single decker electric bus which was used on park-and-ride service 500.
The city and county councils are consulting on a Zero Emission Zone for the city which could be launched in certain streets in December - the red zone.
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Zero emission vehicles would be able to drive in the zone free of charge. Other vehicles would be permitted in the zone but would have to pay £10 per day from February 2021.
Last month, a partnership of the county council, city council, Stagecoach, the Oxford Bus Company and Arriva announced a funding bid to be Britain’s first all-electric bus city.
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The winning town will receive up to £50m.
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