TRANSPORT: Greens call for flat fare ticketing system for Scotland
The Scottish Greens will today commit to introducing Scotcard, Scotland’s first integrated ticketing system for buses, trains and ferries. This ‘tap-on, tap-off’ system will set daily price caps for public transport journeys, replacing the current system of disjointed, expensive journeys requiring multiple tickets across different operators.
The Scotcard would allow travelers and commuters to use one ticket for their journeys rather than having to make multiple payments. Setting up the scheme would be funded through diverting funds currently earmarked for climate-wrecking trunk road and motorway expansion projects.
Integrated ticketing systems are already common practice across Europe, with the Austrian ‘Klimaticket’ and the German ‘Deutschland Ticket’ both providing successful examples for Scotland to learn from.
Over the last five years the Scottish Greens have introduced free bus travel for everyone under 22, ended peak fares for all rail users and secured a £2 bus fare cap for the Highlands and Islands, saving commuters a fortune and helping to tackle the climate emergency.
The party’s co-leader Ross Greer said:
“In countries across Europe you only need the one ticket to travel across different buses, trains and ferries. The Scottish Greens would deliver that system here too, through our Scotcard plans.
"This will make public transport journeys easier and cheaper. It builds on the track record of Green MSPs, who have already saved commuters a fortune by introducing free bus travel for young people and scrapping peak rail fares.
“Integrated flat fares have been common across Europe for years, but Scotland has trailed behind. It’s time for us to finally catch-up and deliver a system that works for people and planet.
“Transport is Scotland’s largest source of carbon emissions. If we’re to tackle the climate emergency, we need to make sure a bus or train is the first and best choice for far more Scots.
“The current system is complex and expensive, with people needing multiple tickets to get from point A to point B. We need to make it far simpler by introducing the kind of card payment system that Scots are used to seeing when they go abroad.
“Far too much of the transport debate in this country is about which motorways should be expanded, when our top priority should be making buses and trains easier and cheaper to use. The Scottish Greens’ Scotcard proposal would do just that.”