SMEs in Brixton, including street and market traders based locally, will get the chance to utilise London’s first ever electric van sharing service.
The vans will be available free of charge for eligible businesses who participate in the scheme.
Cross River Partnership’s award winning Clean Air Villages programme aims to encourage small businesses based locally in Brixton to start sharing a greener and cleaner electric van with other local businesses.
This can help:
- Encourage businesses based locally to scrap highly polluting vans
- Reduce the number of vans on the roads generally, helping to tackle the area’s high congestion and pollution levels
- Reduce parking demand in the area
- Ensure local businesses can continue to operate in the current and expanded Ultra Low Emission Zone
The EV shared van scheme is believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, and is the result of a joint collaboration between Lambeth Council, Brixton BID, Zipcar for Business and Cross River Partnership’s Clean Air Villages Programme.
The project is funded by Lambeth Council and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
The EV van will be located near Brixton’s Electric Avenue, a nod to both the street’s many market traders and its electric heritage, having been the first market street in London to be lit by electric lights back in the 1880s.
However, evolutions in transport and technology have also brought major environmental challenges to the area, and nearby Brixton Road is now considered to be one of London’s most polluted streets.
This project sees DEFRA funding the overall scheme through Cross River Partnership’s Clean Air Villages Programme, Lambeth Council funding the van itself, which is provided and run through Zipcar for Business, and Brixton BID playing a key role in bringing Brixton businesses on board.
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