Nearly £5.5 million is being invested in cleaner and better buses across Oxfordshire after a new round of vehicle improvement grants was approved by Oxfordshire County Council.
Grants totalling £1.405 million have been awarded to bus operators and community transport groups to support upgrades designed to benefit both passengers and the environment.
The funding will help deliver 13 new electric buses, convert two existing minibuses from diesel to electric power, and introduce passenger enhancements to a number of vehicles operating across the county.
The awards have been made through the council’s vehicle improvement fund, which is new for 2025/26 and funded via the government’s Bus Grant.
Open to all operators of local bus services in Oxfordshire, the scheme has also attracted an additional £4.056 million in investment from operators themselves, bringing the total value of vehicle improvements to £5.461 million.
Councillor Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport Management, said:
“This is really good news and an excellent example of partnership working delivering real benefit and value to our residents.
“The purchase of new electric vehicles and improvements to existing ones has been made possible by the council’s continued close working relationship with our bus operators through our Enhanced Partnership, soon to be strengthened further. We look forward to seeing passengers using them in the future.”
Among the successful bids was Oxford Bus Company’s parent group, Go-Ahead, which received £1.204 million towards the purchase of 13 new single-deck electric buses for use across Oxfordshire.
Luke Marion, Managing Director of Oxford Bus Company, said:
“This is another significant sustainability milestone for the Oxfordshire bus network and takes the total number of electric buses now operating in our Oxfordshire fleet to 117.
“The investment from Oxfordshire County Council has been supported by an additional £3.9m investment from our business, and collectively this enables us to expand our fleet of electric buses on to more routes outside the Oxford SmartZone, further improving air quality for local communities.
“The result of strong partnership working, I’d like to thank Oxfordshire County Council and Go-Ahead Group for supporting this investment.”
Elsewhere, Reading Buses received £60,000 to enhance passenger facilities on four vehicles serving Peppard Common, while three community transport operators were also supported.
West Oxfordshire Community Transport was awarded £138,605 to convert two diesel minibuses to electric power, install EV charging equipment and fit CCTV systems. Additional grants supported accessibility and safety upgrades for rural transport providers.
It is hoped the vehicle improvement fund will continue in future years, building on the decarbonisation and passenger benefits delivered by the ZEBRA scheme, which funded 159 electric buses across Oxfordshire.
