New call for publicly owned buses
The new Cabinet Secretary for Transport must be willing to bring buses back under public control, say the Scottish Greens.
The party’s interim spokesperson for transport, Mark Ruskell MSP, wrote to the new Cabinet Secretary, Stephen Flynn today highlighting why public ownership of buses is important.
The current model is not suitable, resulting in high fares, less routes and a broken transport system that fails communities across Scotland.
What the Scottish Greens are proposing is bringing buses back into public ownership, to make bus services more reliable and affordable, building on the Greens ambitions to make Scotland a world leader in public transport.
Mark Ruskell said:
“For too long, Scotland’s bus services have not served the communities they operate in. Fares are too high, and there has been a significant decline in the number of bus routes, leaving many communities feeling cut off, or having to rely heavily on cars to get around.
“Commuters across the country deserve reliable and affordable services in a range of climate-friendly transport options, and with proper investment from the Scottish Government for bus franchising that is an achievable aim.
“Already, the Scottish Greens have taken measures to improve our services, including introducing free bus travel for under 22’s and scrapping peak rail fares. We want to build on that, and are ready to discuss the measures that we know will boost our public transport provisions across the country.
By bringing buses back under public ownership, Stephen Flynn has the opportunity to bring forward our Green proposals and make Scotland a world leader when it comes to public transport.”
Text of Letter to Cabinet Secretary for Transport
Dear Cabinet Secretary,
Congratulations on your new role as Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Tourism and Transport. I am writing to you to highlight the need to bring our buses back into public ownership, as the privatisation of our bus services has continuously failed communities across Scotland.
It has meant higher fares, fewer routes, and a broken, fragmented system where companies can cherry-pick profitable services, leaving communities and councils to pick up the pieces.
By bringing buses back into public ownership, we can ensure services are affordable, reliable and actually meet the needs of the communities they serve.
The current progress toward bus franchising has been delayed and complicated, due in part to the franchising powers set out in the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 being the most complex and time-consuming in the UK. It has taken over six years for statutory guidance to be published.
I am concerned that in Scotland we have now fallen behind England and Wales in bringing buses under public control. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority for example has been rightly held up as an exemplar in delivery, but I want Scotland to be the best nation in the UK for public transport.
In order to speed up the franchising process the legislative process must be simplified. Simplifying the legislative process would remove many of the barriers that Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs) are facing in bringing buses back under public ownership.
It is also important that RTPs have access to funding from the Scottish Government to support their franchising efforts. The Scottish Greens welcomed the £4 million committed in the most recent Scottish Government budget to support authorities to build the business case for bus franchising. However, we would like to see more detail on how this will be allocated across local authorities.
I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this issue with you further, as the interim Transport spokesperson for the Scottish Greens.
Best wishes,
Mark Ruskell MSP
MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife