£3.3m to help tackle air pollution in Newcastle

Newcastle City Council announced at the UK Bus Summit in London a new £3.3 million project to improve air quality by cutting harmful emissions from buses.

The scheme will see 191 buses operating on 20 routes in Newcastle, Gateshead and North Tyneside fitted with new engine technology which significantly reduces levels of pollutants, after Newcastle, Gateshead and North Tyneside councils all submitted bids for a share of the Clean Bus Technology Fund.

Arlene Ainsley, cabinet member for transport and air quality, said: “Poor air quality has a serious impact on our environment, our health and our economy. Reducing congestion on our roads – a major cause of pollution – by changing the way we travel and swapping some of our car journeys for public transport, is one of the ways in which we can all make a difference. This funding means that as well as encouraging people to travel by bus instead of by car, we can also ensure that the buses which are operating on our roads are cleaner vehicles.”

The buses which will benefit from the funding are operated by Stagecoach, Go North East and Arriva North East. The bus companies will be able to use the money to buy the new technology to be fitted to their vehicles over the next 12 months.