Future of bus services must put the public in control
In a debate this afternoon in Parliament on “Affordable Bus Fares”, the Scottish Greens’ transport spokesperson, Patrick Harvie will say Scotland will only get the high quality public transport we need once our bus networks are under public control.
Patrick urged the Scottish Government to accelerate its progress towards franchising, and publicly owned services.
Scottish Greens Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Transport and Tourism, Patrick Harvie MSP said:
“The Scottish Greens are proud to have delivered free bus travel for all young people in Scotland, saving families money and opening up new opportunities.
“We also abolished peak rail fares, slashing commuter costs, and we’re proud to have helped bring Scotland’s railways back into public ownership.
“We also secured a £2 bus fare cap in the Highlands and Islands region which has proved so successful that the Scottish Government now wants to roll it out nationwide - validating our position that the Government should simply have committed to a national rollout when we first proposed it.
“The Scottish Greens want to go further and expand fare-free travel to everyone, so that no one in Scotland has to pay for the bus.
“But the long list of subsidy schemes and other interventions by Government are only needed because the privatised, deregulated model of bus services has failed so badly.
“That’s what the Government needs to face up to. We need Ministers to commit fully to bringing our bus networks into public control so that we can run routes that are good for passengers and communities, rather than lining the pockets of millionaire and billionaire owners.
“For far too long, Scotland has been subject to free market failure in public transport, putting profit before people. In that model, the high quality public transport we deserve can never happen.
“Unless we bring bus networks into public control, we’ll continue to see Government constantly stepping in to make up for market failure.
“Every community in Scotland deserves the kind of world class public transport that many other European countries take for granted.”