I have called on the Scottish Government to cost a bus fare cap that would benefit all bus users by making bus travel more affordable in a question to the Minister for Transport, Fiona Hyslop MSP.
I previously raised the issue of disparities in fares and access to bus services across the country, and pointed to schemes from the UK Government’s Department for Transport, that has extended a temporary cap on single journey bus fares at £2 to the end of 2024, and Greater Manchester Labour Mayor Andy Burnham, who has secured a five-year £1.2 billion funding package to reform bus services across the Greater Manchester area and permanently cap single journey bus fares at £2.
Many people on low incomes struggle with the cost of local bus fares and, at a time when government policy is to encourage greater use of buses, the barrier of cost should be reduced.
I regularly hear from constituents who have issues accessing bus services, whether it be the unreliability of certain routes, particularly in rural areas, or with the affordability of bus fares, and this has only increased during the cost-of-living crisis.
I know that the Scottish Government recognises the importance of access to bus services and the difference that this can make in people’s lives as they have done great work in this area introducing free bus travel to Under-22s.
It is now crucial that they continue to build on this by looking at making buses more affordable for all people across the country, regardless of age.
When I see the great work of Mayor Andy Burnham of Greater Manchester in the reforms he has delivered to bus services in his region, I know that it must be possible for Scotland to look at similar approaches.
The evidence shows that the bus fare cap has resulted in a significant increase in bus usage and here in Fife, that would be a boost to our city and town centres, making it more affordable for people to travel to them as well as encouraging more people to leave the car and use the bus.
That is why I am calling on the Government to cost a flat bus fare cap which will support all bus users across the country to make the move from car to bus, helping us to achieve our net-zero targets and benefiting all bus users in Scotland.
Below is the letter I sent to the Transport Minister, followed by the text of my question in Parliament.
Letter-from-Alex-Rowley-MSP-to-Minister-for-Transport-Bus-Fare-Cap-11-December-2023Buses (Actions to Increase Use) S6O-02827 – 30 November 2023
6. Alex Rowley (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the use of buses across Scotland. (S6O-02827)
The Minister for Transport (Fiona Hyslop)
Earlier this year, we co-funded a successful national marketing campaign with bus operators, to encourage people to return to bus or use it for the first time. The campaign reached an audience of millions, prompted more than 32,000 visits to the choosethebus.scot website and increased older and disabled persons’ concessionary journeys by 5.8 per cent during the campaign period.
In addition, our concessionary travel schemes provide access to free bus travel to more than 2 million people in Scotland, including around 170,000 in Fife. The schemes account for more than 3 million journeys every week and help people to cut costs, which makes sustainable travel a more attractive option.
Although I have repeatedly welcomed the under-22 bus pass scheme in the chamber, I have also repeatedly raised the issue of unaffordable and ever-increasing bus fares for people who are without the benefit of a concessionary scheme. The United Kingdom Government has introduced a blanket cap of £2 for all bus fares in England, to help to tackle the issue during the cost of living crisis.
Will the minister examine the case and cost for a similar fare cap in Scotland that would benefit all bus users?
The rest of the UK does not have the generous concessionary bus scheme that Scotland has—more than 2 million of our population benefit from the scheme. However, the member makes an important point about working people who cannot afford bus fares and are not eligible for the concessionary scheme. That is why our fair fares review, which is due to report shortly, is looking at the balance there, including the issue of tackling poverty. One of the biggest blights resulting from successive Westminster Governments is in-work poverty. If the Scottish Government can do anything to help to relieve that, we will do it.
Let us be realistic, though. When it comes to achieving what the member and I want to achieve, which is properly to tackle poverty in Scotland, we are facing a very serious budget situation.
Graham Simpson (Central Scotland) (Con)
The minister is perhaps missing an opportunity here, because we could have a Scottish bus fare cap if she chose to consider it. Is the minister prepared at least to look at the proposal and what it might cost?
The member makes an important point, but he also fails to reflect that Scotland does not have a centralised system for what can be done in local authority areas. We are in the process of introducing regulations that will give more powers, for example over franchising; powers over running services are already there. Unless the member wants to centralise all decision making on transport, what he suggests would be problematic in our context.
I have met regional transport partnerships from across Scotland, and I think that all of us—whether in local authorities, regional transport partnerships or in the national Government—are thinking about how we can do things in a better way. However, I do not think that centralising everything, as the member suggests, is the route forward that our local authorities would want.
