Dienstleistungen

Procedure descriptions

Apply for funding for environmentally friendly, low-emission public transport - buses and community buses

The state subsidises the purchase of new environmentally friendly, low-emission public buses and community buses.

The aims of the funding are

- Increasing the proportion of buses used in public transport, especially those powered by renewable energy.

- Support for locally organised, volunteer-run transport services ("citizens' buses")

- Improving local public transport in terms of sustainable and climate-friendly mobility.

Responsible authority

Landeskreditbank Baden-Württemberg (L-Bank)

Landeskreditbank Baden-Württemberg - Förderbank

Details

Prerequisite

The following are eligible to apply for public bus funding:

  • Local transport companies that operate scheduled services in accordance with § 42 or § 43 sentence 1 no. 2 or § 44 of the Passenger Transport Act (PBefG) in Baden-Württemberg.
  • Local transport companies that are in possession of a corresponding regular service licence and procure vehicles eligible for funding under these guidelines that are used in regular services in accordance with § 42 or § 43 sentence 1 number 2 or § 44 PBefG in Baden-Württemberg.
  • Contractors of such transport companies

The following are eligible to apply for citizen bus funding:

  • (Citizens' bus) associations, transport companies, municipalities or districts

Amount and scope of funding:

Funding is differentiated according to the type of drive

  • emission-free vehicles: battery buses, fuel cell buses
  • clean vehicles: plug-in hybrid buses
  • other drive types
  • The conversion of vehicles that allow them to be categorised as vehicles with battery-electric or fuel cell drives is also eligible for funding.

Emission-free and clean vehicles

  • Funding for additional investment costs related to environmental protection: The additional investment costs related to environmental protection are determined by comparing the procurement costs with the costs of a conventional reference bus of the same size. The difference between the expenditure of these two investments is the environmental protection-related and therefore eligible expenditure.

  • The subsidy rate for eligible expenditure depends on the size of the company
    • Medium and large companies: 70 %
    • Small companies: 75 %.
    • In order to support the fastest possible conversion of vehicles used in Baden-Württemberg to low-emission drive systems, the aid intensity will be reduced by 5 percentage points per year starting from the funding year 2025.
  • For reasons of state aid law, applications for zero-emission and clean vehicles must be prioritised in order to enable effective competition.
    • The criterion of the submitted offer (aid applied for divided by the number of vehicle units) is awarded 75%,
    • the rural area criterion (location of the vehicle) with 15 % ,
    • the small company criterion is weighted at 10%.

No distinction is made in the ranking between the procurement and conversion of vehicles; instead, a standardised ranking procedure is used. The worst 5% of applications based on the application ranking for zero-emission and clean vehicles cannot be included in the programme.

Vehicles with other drive types

  • 40.eUR 000 per vehicle unit.
  • Additional and special equipment is subsidised in the form of fixed lump sums.

Further information can be found in the guidelines and in the application form

Procedure

You can submit the application online.

  • A separate application must be submitted for each vehicle.
  • The application is also the registration for the bus programme. No separate application is necessary.
  • If you have any questions about the application process, please contact L-Bank.

Deadlines

Applications for funding can be submitted annually by 31 October (application period). The Ministry of Transport determines the bus programme by 1 March of the following year. The L-Bank then issues the funding decisions as the authorising body.

Required documents

  • for holders of licences pursuant to Section 42 PBefG: complete copy of the route licence with annexes
  • for contractors according to § 42 PBefG: Copy of the complete contract including annexes with client
  • Copy of the complete registration certificate Part I (vehicle registration certificate) and Part II (vehicle registration document) for the vehicle to be replaced
  • Certificate from the customs office regarding the duration of the exemption from vehicle tax (only for vehicles with an entrance height >= 860 mm)
  • current market value appraisal of the vehicle to be replaced
  • Routing in the area of use of the subsidised vehicle
  • all other documents can be found on the L-Bank homepage

Costs

none

Miscellaneous

none

Legal basis

Gesetz über Zuwendungen des Landes zur Verbesserung der Verkehrsverhältnisse der Gemeinden (Landesgemeindeverkehrsfinanzierungsgesetz (LGVFG):

  • § 2 Nummer 11 Förderungsfähige Vorhaben

Release note

Machine generated, based on the German release by: Verkehrsministerium Baden-Württemberg, 28.06.2025