BEAR returns: funding for Scottish LEZs

Coach, bus and community transport operators in Scotland are being offered a share of £5.7m to help them comply with Low Emission Zones (LEZs) through retrofitting technology. The money is being made available by the Scottish Government.

A fourth round of the Bus Emissions Abatement Retrofit Programme (BEAR) has now opened to support the costs of installing technology to reduce diesel emissions or to convert buses to electric drivetrains.

This builds on three previous rounds of funding which has provided £12.2 million to ensure 762 buses can meet required emissions standards. Working in partnership with accredited technology providers, Transport Scotland will continue to monitor the air quality performance of retrofitted buses to ensure they perform as expected.

Stevie More, Engineering Director at Lothian Buses, said: “Lothian are fully committed to improving air quality across all our operations in Edinburgh and the Lothian’s, in line with the Scottish Government’s ambition to have the best air quality in Europe. This announcement from The Scottish Government of a further round of BEAR funding is welcomed by the industry as we all strive to meet the Low Emission Zone targets across Scotland.”

More information on the Bus Emissions Abatement Retrofit Programme is available here.