Transport Bill must deliver better buses
Scottish Greens Transport Spokesperson John Finnie MSP will today (4 Apr) call on the Scottish Government to back his plans for the Transport Bill to deliver better buses for communities across Scotland.
The Scottish Parliament will debate the bill at stage 1 this afternoon and Mr Finnie will push Ministers to be more ambitious than the current, timid plans.
John Finnie MSP said:
“Three quarters of all public transport journeys are made by bus, yet too often buses are treated as an afterthought in political debate. The current system sees private companies cherry picking the profitable routes across most of the country, all too frequently leaving communities, particularly in rural areas, cut off.
“The Scottish Government’s current proposals would allow local authorities to take on services, but only after commercial companies had deemed routes unviable. It’s difficult to see how any local public service could run effectively under this constraint.
“The Scottish Greens believe that communities across Scotland deserve better buses and I’ll be bringing forward proposals to ensure more local control, greater reliability and fairer fares as the bill progresses. I urge the Scottish Government to increase its ambition and get behind my proposals.”