Bus services should be able to be run by local councils, the Scottish Greens have said.
As the Scottish Parliament's Rural Economy and Connectivity Committee starts debating stage two amendments to the government's Transport Bill, the Greens have argued that local authorities should be allowed to run bus services.
The party says that SNP proposals would only let councils run services that are not deemed financially viable by private operators, and called for changes to go further.
Lothian buses is the only publicly-owned operator in Scotland and Scottish Greens transport spokesman John Finnie said: "Introducing publicly-run services will allow the public to hold local politicians to account for the state of local services in a way they cannot currently do.
READ MORE: Mapped: Scotland’s planet-saving carbon ‘sinks’
"Allowing publicly-run bus services won't magically make everything better overnight, of course.
"However, given the way many private operators cherry pick routes, arbitrarily raise fares and cut services with little notice it is only right that public services are at the very least an option for communities."
Mr Finnie added: "Three quarters of public transport journeys are made by bus, yet the number of journeys is falling year on year as services are reduced and routes slashed.
"One third of households have no access to a car and the removal of bus services can leave people stranded, a situation that has huge impacts in all aspects of life from commuting to work, socialising, attending medical appointments or studying.
READ MORE: Shell boss underlines appeal of North Sea for oil giant amid Brexit uncertainty
"Rurality often exacerbates this situation, with loneliness and isolation becoming a growing problem in many of the communities I represent in the Highlands and Islands and elsewhere across the country.
"The concessionary travel scheme is an excellent initiative, but a bus pass is of little use if there isn't a bus to use it on."
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "We are committed to tackling the historic decline in bus passenger numbers and the Transport (Scotland) Bill is designed to give local authorities the power to meet local needs should they wish to pursue partnership working, local franchising or run their own buses if that is appropriate.
"Since the Bill was introduced, some local authorities have told us that they would like the powers to be extended further and we have lodged an amendment to the Transport Bill that would enable local transport authorities to set up a company to operate local services within a commercial market.
"Local transport authority companies would operate in the same way as any other commercial bus operators and would be subject to all the usual registration and licensing requirements."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel