Electric Vehicles

Oxford is launching an electric fleet that will make the city one of the UK’s leading adopters of zero-emission buses.

The 159 new battery-powered buses will give Oxford more electric buses per capita than other cities including London, Glasgow and Leicester, under a pioneering arrangement in which the council will guarantee private operators faster journey times in return for investment.

From Monday, the first buses will officially enter service after a ceremony to mark the launch. Only buses that are zero-emission will be allowed within the city when the entire fleet is operational, with more restrictions on other types of traffic to cut congestion as well as improve air quality.

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The partnership, in which both Go-Ahead and Stagecoach electric buses will be rebranded in the same livery, will be underpinned by further traffic measures in the city to reduce bus journey times by at least 10% compared with 2019 speeds – a contractual commitment from the council to ensure the investment is viable for the private companies.

The city already has a number of “bus gates”, which prohibit most other vehicles, and more traffic filters will be introduced by the end of 2024 to push people towards public transport or active travel where possible.

Oxford has already implemented several low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), which have been the focus of heated protests by campaigners and conspiracy theorists.