City 'at forefront' of electric buses initiative

Stagecoach boss Chris Hanson (right) said Oxford was leading the way with its electric public transport

The boss of a bus company has said Oxford is "at the forefront of electrification" after the launch of new electric buses.

Stagecoach West has partnered with Oxfordshire County Council to roll out 55 new electric buses, with the aim of reducing pollution.

It comes after a report showed road nitrogen oxide emissions dropped from 40% to 32%. The study sampled data from 2022, which coincided with the introduction of 159 electric buses in the city.

Managing director of the bus firm, Chris Hanson, said cities across the UK were now "catching up".

Councillor Andrew Gant said more plans were under way to reduce pollution in Oxford

"It almost got the first city to go almost fully electric but Coventry just beat us to it," he said.

"Oxford is right at the forefront of electrification and while lots of cities this year are going to start catching us up, actually Oxford is streets ahead and that's really fantastic."

The Oxford Source Apportionment report showed buses contributed 4% - a 28% reduction since the last such study.

It also explained cars accounted for 48% of total road transport emissions of nitrogen oxide, the harmful gas produced by vehicles, according to data measured in 2022.

Oxfordshire County Council has confirmed it is planning to introduce other measures to tackle air pollution, including a pilot scheme using traffic filters in several areas.

Councillor Andrew Gant said: "The zero emissions zone started on a small pilot area in the centre of Oxford has shown really promising results and will be rolled out over a bigger area over the course of the next few years."