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Apply for funding for environmentally friendly, low-emission public transport buses and community buses
The state provides funding for the purchase of new, environmentally friendly, low-emission public service buses and community buses.
The aims of the funding scheme are:
- To increase the proportion of buses used in public transport, particularly those powered by renewable energy.
- To support locally organised, volunteer-run transport services (‘community buses’)
- To improve public transport with a view to achieving sustainable and climate-friendly mobility.
Responsible authority
Landeskreditbank Baden-Württemberg (L-Bank)
Details
Prerequisite
The following are eligible to apply for public bus service funding:
- Local transport operators that operate scheduled services in Baden-Württemberg in accordance with Section 42 or Section 43, first sentence, number 2, or Section 44 of the Passenger Transport Act (PBefG).
- Local transport operators who hold a relevant route licence and procure vehicles eligible for funding under these guidelines, which are used in regular services in Baden-Württemberg in accordance with Section 42 or Section 43, first sentence, number 2, or Section 44 of the Passenger Transport Act (PBefG).
- Contractors working on behalf of such transport companies
The following are eligible to apply for community bus funding:
- (Community bus) associations, transport operators, local authorities or districts
Amount and scope of funding:
Funding is differentiated according to the type of propulsion
- zero-emission vehicles: battery-powered buses, fuel-cell buses
- clean vehicles: plug-in hybrid buses
- other types of propulsion
- The retrofitting of vehicles is also eligible for funding, provided that this allows them to be classified as battery-electric or fuel-cell vehicles.
Zero-emission and clean vehicles
-
Funding for additional investment costs relating to environmental protection: The additional investment costs relating to environmental protection are determined by comparing the procurement costs with those of a conventional reference bus of the same size. The difference between the expenditure on these two investments constitutes the environmental protection-related expenditure and is therefore eligible for funding.
- The funding rate for eligible expenditure depends on the size of the company
- Medium-sized and large enterprises: 60 per cent
- Small enterprises: 65 per cent
- To support the swiftest possible transition of vehicles in use in Baden-Württemberg to low-emission propulsion systems, the aid intensity will be reduced by 5 percentage points annually, starting from the funding year 2025.
- For reasons relating to state aid law, and in order to ensure effective competition, applications for zero-emission and clean vehicles must be ranked.
- The criterion ‘submitted bid: aid applied for divided by the number of vehicles’ is weighted at 75 per cent,
- the criterion ‘rural area, the vehicle’s place of use’ is weighted at 15 per cent,
- and the ‘small business’ criterion by 10 per cent.
No distinction is made in the ranking between the procurement and retrofitting of vehicles; instead, a uniform ranking procedure is applied. The bottom 5 per cent of applications for zero-emission and clean vehicles, as determined by the application ranking, cannot be included in the programme list.
Vehicles with other types of propulsion
- EUR 40,000 per vehicle.
- Additional and optional equipment is subsidised in the form of fixed lump sums.
Further information can be found in the guidelines and on the application form
Procedure
You can submit the application online.
- A separate application must be submitted for each vehicle.
- Submitting the application also serves as your registration for the bus scheme. No separate registration is required.
- If you have any queries regarding the application process, the L-Bank’s contact persons are available to assist you.
Deadlines
Applications for funding may be submitted annually by 31 October, the end of the application period. The Ministry of Transport finalises the bus programme by 1 March of the following year. The L-Bank, as the approving authority, then issues the funding decisions.
Required documents
- for holders of licences under section 42 of the Passenger Transport Act (PBefG): a complete copy of the route licence, including annexes
- for contractors under Section 42 of the PBefG: a copy of the full contract, including annexes, with the client
- A copy of the full registration certificate, Part I (vehicle registration certificate) and Part II (vehicle title), for the vehicle to be replaced
- Certificate from the customs office confirming the duration of the exemption from motor vehicle tax. Only for vehicles with a step-in height of 860 mm or more
- Current market value valuation report for the vehicle to be replaced
- Route map for the area of operation of the subsidised vehicle
- All other documents can be found on the L-Bank website
Costs
none
Miscellaneous
none
Detailed information
- The guidelines, including the application forms and the contact details of the relevant approving authority (L-Bank), can be found here.
- Information from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Transport on the funding scheme (community buses) can be found here.
- Information from the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Transport on the funding scheme (regular bus services) can be found here.
Legal basis
Act on State Grants for the Improvement of Transport Conditions in Local Authorities (State Act on Transport Funding for Local Authorities (LGVFG)::
- § 2 Nummer 11 Förderungsfähige Vorhaben
Release note
Machine generated, based on the German release by: Verkehrsministerium Baden-Württemberg, 20.10.2026