Government funding towards electric bus

Orkney Islands Council looks set to welcome its first fully electric public bus in coming months, after the Scottish Government confirmed it will allocate up to £97,560 of match funding from its Scottish Green Bus fund.

Further match funding towards the bus from the Scottish Government’s Future Transport Fund Low Carbon Vehicle fund has recently been agreed in principle.

Once the OIC has written confirmation of these offers, it will be able to place an order for a new ‘Optare Solo SR’ electric bus, which will run on the Kirkwall to Airport route.

The Council received £78,000 from Transport Scotland earlier this year towards electric vehicle charging points, with another £110k for the 2015-16 financial year also recently confirmed.