Greens deliver £2 bus fare cap for Highlands and Islands
The Scottish Greens have secured a £2 bus fare cap trial across the Highlands and Islands.
The cap, secured by Scottish Greens MSPs as part of budget negotiations earlier this year, will begin at the end of January.
The move comes after the introduction of free bus travel for under 22s five years ago, and the permanent removal of peak rail fares earlier this year. Both policies were also secured by Scottish Greens MSPs.
Scottish Greens transport spokesperson Mark Ruskell MSP said:
“This is fantastic news for residents and visitors to the Highlands and islands. I hope its success will convince the Scottish Government to roll it out to the rest of the country as well.
“Capping single bus fares at £2 will obviously bring huge savings for passengers, but it goes far wider than that. It will also open up new job and education opportunities, make services like GPs more accessible and boost local shops by leaving people with more money to spend at the end of their journey.
“People are being priced out of bus and train travel, particularly when going longer distances between towns, cities and rural Scotland. This either stops them from travelling altogether, or means more cars on our roads, causing congestion, air pollution and climate emissions.
“Since the Scottish Greens introduced free bus travel for young people five years ago they have taken well over 250 million journeys. And earlier this month ScotRail credited our removal of peak rail fares for giving them their most journeys in a single day since the railway was taken back into public ownership.
“By introducing this fare cap we can build on those successes and deliver greener and more affordable transport for all."