First Bus faces a mounting backlash after the company announced it was scrapping night services across Glasgow.
The decision by the privatised transport giant has been met with fury by politicians and trade unions who dismissed claims there was not enough demand from passengers.
The move will impact 11 routes that operate across the Glasgow area in the early hours of Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Paul Sweeney said the decision will hit low-income workers the hardest as well as impacting the safety of women travelling at night.
The Labour MSP pointed to the examples of Manchester and Leeds where councils have already began the process to bring their bus services back under local control.
"Public transport in Glasgow is a joke," he said. "This makes a mockery of the idea that bus privatisation is sustainable.
"This will hit low income workers hardest and seriously impact on the safety of women travelling at night. Public ownership is long overdue."
Mike Grieve, head of Night Time Industries Association Scotland, described the decision as "shortsighted and dangerous, showing no consideration for the safety of thousands of night workers and customers coming home in the early hours of the morning".
Ruth Boyle, campaigns manager at the Poverty Alliance, said: "We are particularly concerned about people that are working in low paid jobs and sectors like hospitality, cleaning and security.
"For many people this could be the difference between them being able to stay in paid work and actually having to leave their job because they don't have access to a car or they can't afford the price of taxis.
"These services should be accountable to people who rely on them but instead we see services being cut that are a vital lifeline to people on low incomes so we don't think the decision is good enough."
Graeme Macfarlan, commercial director at First Bus Scotland, said passenger numbers showed there was "not enough appetite in Glasgow" for services to operate into the early hours.
Night bus services were reintroduced across Glasgow last year after previously being scrapped during the coronavirus pandemic.
Buses run throughout the night in Edinburgh where the local network has remained under public control.
But Glasgow council bosses have signalled there is little they can do to overturn the decision by First.
A spokeswoman said: "We are very concerned about the loss of the night bus service and the impact this will have on people who need public transport late at night.
"We do understand the commercial operators who provide public bus services are facing significant challenges but the decision highlights again the need to look at alternative ways of running bus services in Glasgow.
"We are due to meet with First Bus to discuss the decision on the night bus, and will be engaging with partners, including SPT and Transport Scotland, to identify what can be done to support the transport requirements of the night-time economy.
"More broadly, we will continue to work with public transport operators to support improvements to bus services in Glasgow.
"We are also working with partners to explore the medium-to-longer term options for greater public control of the city’s bus network that could allow us to set routes, fares and timetables."
A spokeswoman for Transport Scotland said: "We note the decision taken by First Bus, which we understand is driven by low use of the service, coupled with the difficulties in recruiting bus drivers.
"We are aware of the importance of bus services and are committed, in conjunction with operators and local authorities, to improving services to ensure everyone has accessible public transport regardless of geographic location."
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