Concern over scrappage scheme criteria for coaches

Current criteria likely to rule out most coaches

After announcing the extension of a scrappage scheme for larger vehicles (including coaches and buses) not meeting Euro VI, TfL is already reviewing its guidelines for coach applicability. The London Tourist Coach Operators Association (LTCOA) and the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) have been in touch with London’s transport authority over concerns about the criteria for vehicles to apply for the scheme.

The Mayor of London Scrappage scheme for vans and minibuses has been extended to HGVs, heavy vans, buses and coaches to help clean up London’s air. It supports small businesses with up to 50 employees and charities to replace or retrofit vehicles that do not meet the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) standards. A £15,000 grant is available for vehicles scrapped.

The LTCOA is concerned that vehicles operators are intending to retrofit or scrap must have been driven within the Greater London Area at least 26 times between 28 March 2020 and 28 September 2020. This may be appropriate for the haulage industry, but it certainly is not for the coach industry, given COVID-19.

LTCOA has contacted TfL with these concerns and the criteria is being reviewed.

The LTCOA passes on the following advice:

  1. Put in your application now, even if you currently do not meet all the criteria. The pot of money is limited and could be entirely taken by the freight industry if we are not careful
  2. If you run regular/scheduled home-to-school transport either partly or wholly within the London area, apply for a London Service Permit for the services that you operate. The link to do so is here https://bit.ly/2S2KZPz
  • More information on the scheme can be found here.
  • Read next issue’s (1578, 9 October 2020) London Latest for more on this.

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