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Twenty-four electric buses were unveiled last month and are now transporting about 20,000 passengers a week on two key local services - the X1 (Weston to Bristol) and X4 (Portishead to Bristol).
Each bus saves about 75 tonnes of CO2 each year – the equivalent to taking 54 cars off the road.
This is a landmark moment for North Somerset and a huge step forward in our journey towards a greener future.
The bus depot, just off the A370 in Weston-super-Mare, has been transformed thanks to a £14.9m investment from First Bus and the government’s Zero Emissions Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) project, delivered through us.
Local companies can also charge their electric vehicles at the newly electrified depot.
Each 78-seater zero-emission double decker bus features USB charging points for each seat, a camera monitoring system instead of wing mirrors, and is a quieter ride for passengers.
In addition to buses, we’ll also be revamping up to 130 bus shelters on key routes including stops with ‘living roofs’, solar panels and benches made from thousands of recycled CDs.
A key part of this scheme is about inspiring the next generation to use the bus as a convenient, reliable, and sustainable way to travel.
To help with this, a new educational programme with First Bus is being launched, which will see an electric bus visiting local schools to help pupils learn more about travelling sustainably.
Children and young people will also have the chance to adopt and design local bus shelters and create a futuristic design for the new Wallace and Gromit character Norbot, as part of First Bus’s partnership with the Grand Appeal.
Changes to bus services this month
Changes have now been introduced to bus services in North Somerset to create a better connected network for local people.
Improvements include:
- a new night bus service for the X14 (serving Bristol, Portishead, Clevedon and Weston-super-Mare)
- increased frequency in some areas
- aligned timetables to help children get to school more easily
- better links to hospitals
- re-established links to communities who haven't had a connection since the pandemic, such as Bleadon and West Wick, and
- students able to access all Weston College campuses in Weston-super-Mare on a direct and faster service.
Service changes are put in place every April and September, based on passenger numbers and community needs. Regular reviews of the network are done by commercial bus operators and ourselves.
Find up-to-date timetables information on the TravelWest website.