Bath businesses are being urged to back a multi-million pound bid to the Government to boost the use of green transport across the West of England.
The region’s four local authorities, including Bath & North East Somerset (B&NES), are preparing a bid for up to £11m from the Office of Low Emission Vehicles which would be used to introduce better and more sustainable ways for people to travel.
If successful, the bid would help bring lasting benefits as the area moves towards wider use of plug-in vehicles. 
Benefits identified by the bid team include making it easier to charge plug-in vehicles by trebling the network of charging points in the area to 600, including on-street charging points, and getting the local authorities to use more plug-in vehicles.
These would lead to improvements in air quality – a key theme as parts of the area suffer from some of the worst air pollution in the UK.
Organisations supporting the Go Ultra Low West campaign – which was launched last week at the Bristol & Bath Science Park – include Business West, Bristol Airport, University of the West of England, City of Bristol College, Bristol-based marketing company Proctor + Stevenson and the Environment Agency.
James Durie, executive director at Business West – which runs Bath Chamber of Commerce – is among those leading the charge for electric vehicles. He has been driving a Nissan Leaf since May last year, reducing his running costs by at least 50% in comparison to a petrol car.
James said: “Plug-in cars make commercial and business sense. The bid to increase the number of charge points is hugely important because it would encourage the wider uptake of electric vehicles across the West of England and bring lasting environmental benefits to the area.
“The more that the West of England can do to promote sustainable travel, and tackle poor air quality and congestion, the better.”
