Scottish Ministers are to spend £400,000 on a marketing campaign after a “botched rollout" of free bus travel for under 22s.
The scheme opened in January for children and young people between 5 and 21, but low take up rates have been blasted.
It was reported in August that almost six in ten youngsters had not yet taken advantage of the scheme.
Figures obtained by Labour at the time showed South Ayrshire had a 27% sign up rate, while Dumfries and Galloway had 30% and Stirling 31%.
But according to figures released by the Government today, more than half of the 930,000 people who are eligible have now signed up.
They says this equates to around 21 million free bus journeys.
The low rates led to criticisms that the application process was too complex, with people facing too many barriers.
The SNP/Green Government has now confirmed a campaign will be launched to help young people take advantage of their new travel rights.
Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth said: “The Scottish Government will launch a national marketing campaign to promote the new Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel scheme in the coming weeks.
“The Scottish Government has allocated £400,000 to promote this campaign during this financial year.”
But Labour MSP Monica Lennon said the move should not have been necessary:
“Expanding access to free bus travel is good for people and the planet, and this should have been kept as simple as possible.
“It’s unfortunate that the botched rollout delayed thousands of young Scots from getting their free bus passes.
“Several months after the policy launch, SNP and Green ministers need to explain why a £400,000 marketing campaign is needed now and demonstrate that this is value for money.
“In reality, a free bus pass is only useful if local bus services are readily available when people need them. As well as expanding access to free bus travel, the Scottish Government must address the serious decline in bus services that has occurred under its watch.”
Green MSP Mark Ruskell said: “In this first seven months, we’ve already seen hundreds of thousands of young people in Scotland benefiting from this transformational policy agreed by Green MSPs and the Scottish Government back in 2020.
“It’s a vital part of our transport future, building up public transport habits at an early stage, ultimately leading to fewer vehicles on the road.
“The original plans for a public information campaign ahead of launch in January were postponed because of the upsurge in Covid-19 cases at that time.
“But it is now even more important, in the midst of a cost crisis, that every young person knows about their right to free bus travel.”
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