Wilts and Chiltern emissions funding

Buses operating in Wiltshire and the Chilterns are set to have cleaner exhaust fumes following DfT funding. Wiltshire Council is to receive £361,000 to upgrade 19 existing buses with technology that will cut toxic pollutants, while Chiltern District Council will get £150,000 for similar work on ten buses. This builds on the £85,000 already used to upgrade buses in the Chilterns. The money comes from the Clean Bus Technology Fund launched last year. This latest investment brings the total number of vehicles benefiting from this technology to more than 500.

Transport Minister, Baroness Kramer, said, ‘This funding will help clean up exhaust fumes from older buses in Wiltshire and the Chilterns in a cost effective way, with all the health benefits that brings. As well as improving local air quality, this funding will help the industry delivering these technologies to grow. I hope that other parts of the country will adopt similar measures in the near future. This scheme will benefit the environment as well as helping create and sustain jobs in British companies, allowing them to develop and market new clean technologies here and abroad.’

Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet member for Transport, Cllr John Thomson, said, ‘We are very pleased to have been awarded funding for this exciting project, which will help to improve air quality in Salisbury and reduce the carbon footprint of buses in the city. It is a unique opportunity to trial a new type of technology that could be fitted to other buses and make a significant reduction in vehicle emissions and fuel consumption.’