National summit to hear challenge of providing zero-emission buses in Shropshire

Shropshire Council’s passenger transport manager will today (Friday 17 September) be telling Government officials and transport professionals from across the country about the challenges of providing zero-emission buses in a rural area.

James Willocks will be speaking via a video at the Zero Emission Bus Summit in London, an event hosted by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.

Organised by Campaign for Better Transport in partnership with Transport for London, the event will examine how the roll-out of zero-emissions buses can be accelerated across England in order to drive further improvements, in line with the objectives of the Government’s National Bus Strategy and Transport Decarbonisation Plan.

The summit will bring together representatives from central and local government, bus operators, manufacturers and wider stakeholders to discuss how they can all cooperate in more quickly bringing transformational change to towns, cities and rural areas.

James Willocks said:

“It was a privilege to be asked to speak at this important event and is an opportunity to highlight that in rural areas we need funding for these buses as its unlikely that our operators can fund this investment at the moment as we recover from the pandemic.

“The invite is a great endorsement of the innovative thinking of the team and a reflection of the high regard in which Shropshire is held in this field. It’s also a great opportunity to make Shropshire’s case for better and fairer funding to officials from the Department for Transport, which is needed if we are to make our desired improvements to public transport in the county.”

One of the last events to take place in the current London City Hall building, the summit will be hosted by the Mayor of London and also streamed online.

It will include keynote addresses, presentations and a panel discussion on the challenges and opportunities that different areas are facing in the transition to zero emission buses.

Further information

Other speakers at the summit include

•  Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London
• Councillor Liam Robinson, Portfolio Holder for Transport and Air Quality, Liverpool City Region
• Caroline Watson, Director – Transport and Urban Planning, C40 Cities (video message)
• Jessica Matthew, Director of Local Transport, Department for Transport
• Silviya Barrett, Head of Policy and Research, Campaign for Better Transport
• Gareth Powell, Managing Director – Surface Transport, Transport for London
• Daniel Fisher, Appraisal and Analysis Manager, Transport for Greater Manchester
• Councillor Tim Bearder, Cabinet Member for Highway Management, Oxfordshire County Council