More than one third of young people are missing out on a key Scottish Government policy providing free bus passes despite ministers spending more than £1 million to promote the scheme.

Statistics from the Scottish Government show that more than 300,000 young people have not applied for a free bus pass, despite being eligible.

The Scottish Government introduced free bus travel for under 22s two years ago, a key pledge in the co-operating agreement with the Scottish Greens.

But parliamentary questions submitted by the Scottish LibDems show that 701,696 young people had taken up the pass by the end of October. This is 306,501 fewer than the total number of eligible young people.

Read more: Scotland travel: Under 22s clock up over 100m free bus journeys

The Young Person’s Free Bus Travel scheme opened for applications from 10 January 2022 and by the end of the year, the Scottish Government had already spent £1,137,131 marketing the project.

Scottish LibDems transport spokesperson, Jill Reilly said: “Despite the Government spending more than £1 million to drive uptake of free bus passes, almost two years since the scheme was introduced and more than a third of young people have been unable to take advantage.

“This is another striking example of the Scottish Government’s interest in fanfare rather than delivery. It extended bus passes with one hand, while with the other it took away support from bus operators already struggling with driver shortages and surging costs.

“On top of this, the administrative hurdles involved in signing up for this scheme are needlessly convoluted. Throwing money at PR won’t work if the SNP can’t get the foundations right.”

She added: "Getting people onto buses is a good way to reduce pollution from private cars and enable them to see more of our country.

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“Scottish Liberal Democrats would put communities in charge of when and where buses go by adopting the Transport for London model. We would also expand the under-22 free travel scheme to include ferries, making the scheme fair for young people in the islands who depend on these services every day.

“All of this would meaningfully empower communities with better infrastructure and ensure that services are both frequent and reliable.”

SNP transport minister Fiona Hyslop confirmed that as of the end of October 2023, there were 701,696 cardholders under the scheme.

She added: “Transport Scotland officials have worked to improve and develop reporting processes since the scheme launched, and as such now report on cardholders rather than cards issued.

“This data is supplied by the national entitlement card programme office, who support the 32 local authorities by assisting with the integration of various national and local public services on the national entitlement card and are the joint controller with local authorities of this data.

“Transport Scotland does not hold application information as the improvement service are in charge of applications made through getyournec.scot and all other applications are managed by local authorities.”

Green MSP Ariane Burgess insisted that "the expansion of free bus travel to everyone under 22 has been a huge success and is one of the biggest achievements of devolution".

She added: "I am proud of the role that the Scottish Greens have played in securing and delivering it.

"Over 700,000 young people have taken over 100 million free journeys, that's a game-changer, and something that everyone from across our Parliament should welcome. It is opening up the country and supporting families through the Westminster-inflicted cost of living crisis while helping our climate and introducing new generations of people to public transport.

"We want as many young people as possible to benefit, which is why we are working with local authorities to drive the number up even further. I urge anyone who hasn't got their pass to visit Freebus.scot today to sign up for their free travelcard."

A Transport Scotland spokesperson: “Over 100 million journeys have now been made since the scheme began demonstrating the positive difference the free bus pass is making to the lives of over 700,000 under 22s.

“This policy is truly transformative and we continue to encourage all young people who haven’t yet applied to do so.

“The scheme reduces travel costs for young people and their families, encourages a shift towards public transport from private car use, and improves access to social, leisure, education and employment opportunities for tens of thousands of young people.”