While commentators mull over the environmental benefits of building more new cars to replace older ones, and the financial barrier of having to buy a new car to qualify, there’s now a new option being launched on the Isle of Wight.
The island’s bus operator Southern Vectis has introduced the ‘Really Green Car Scrappage Scheme’ that will allow residents to swap an old car, scooter, moped or van for a ticket to use their bus network for 12 months. In return the company has pledged to scrap every vehicle it takes in, removing cheap cars from the local market and ensuring that there really is a switch from car to bus.
Marc Morgan Huws says that he hopes the idea will be successful across the UK: ‘I’d be delighted if other bus companies took up the scheme – it’s good for our whole industry; we need to constantly find ways of just getting people thinking about the role that buses can play in building sustainable transport and communities. It would be great to see the scheme adopted by our competitors’.
With 600 Island workers having recently been made redundant by wind turbine blade manufacturers Vestas, and a target group of students who rely on parents to contribute to their motoring costs, Southern Vectis is confident that there will be takers.
For more information on the Really Green Car Scrappage Scheme visit
www.scrapmymotor.com or call 01983 827000.