SCOTLAND must follow England's example and cap bus ticket prices, a grassroots activist has said.
On Sunday it was announced that millions of English people outside of London would be able to save money on their bus travel with the introduction of a £2 cap on single fares.
The scheme will cover 4600 routes across England, with the £60 million bill being footed by Westminster, and will last until the end of March.
And now it is time for Scotland to do the same and cap the price of bus tickets, according to Ellie Harrison of the grassroots campaign group Get Glasgow Moving.
Speaking to The National, Harrison said that “If England can cap all bus fares at £2 per single, then so can Scotland”.
She added: “It's obvious to anyone who regularly uses buses in Scotland, that fares are completely unfair. Singles on the capital's publicly-owned Lothian Buses are capped at a flat £1.80, whilst passengers on privatised First Glasgow must pay nearly a pound more at £2.65, and pay twice if they need to change one of the city's many other competing operators such as McGill's.
"Once you go beyond the big cities, fares in rural areas can get into double digits - if you're lucky enough to have a bus route, that is.
"It doesn't take a genius to work out that to deliver a fair fare structure for all parts of Scotland we need to regulate the private bus companies that are providing services. We currently give them more than £320m in public subsidies every year with almost no conditions on services provision - this needs to change.
She continued: “In the midst of a climate emergency, energy and cost-of-living crisis, the Scottish Government must take urgent action to ensure that, no matter where you live in Scotland you only need pay the same affordable flat fare to get around by bus.”
We invest £300 million annually to deliver free bus travel for all children and young people under 22, as well as for eligible disabled people and everyone aged 60 and over. This means Scotland has the most generous concessionary fare scheme in the UK, with more than 2.3 million people eligible for free bus travel – encouraging more people to choose to take the bus and helping us meet our net zero targets by encouraging a shift away from cars.
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: "We invest £300m annually to deliver free bus travel for all children and young people under 22, as well as for eligible disabled people and everyone aged 60 and over. This means Scotland has the most generous concessionary fare scheme in the UK, with more than 2.3 million people eligible for free bus travel – encouraging more people to choose to take the bus and helping us meet our net zero targets by encouraging a shift away from cars.
“We are progressing the Fair Fares Review to ensure a sustainable and integrated approach to fares that supports the long-term viability of our public transport system as we recover from the pandemic.
“The review is considering both the cost and availability of services and the range of discounts and concessionary schemes which are available on all modes including bus, rail and ferry. It will develop and assess options to create a fairer, more transparent system of fares across all modes that maintain and increase affordability for those who need it most.”
