Fears for future of buses as £500m ScotGov flagship fund stalls

The Herald can further reveal that since the fund was established the number of passenger journeys on local bus services in Scotland has actually fallen by nearly 25%.

It is further revealed that the Scottish Government budget for supporting bus services has been slashed by nearly half over two years, from £99.41m in 2022/23 to £55.5m in 2024/25. In the past year there has been an 11% cut.

The bus service support budget provides funding for the Network Support Grant, which helps bus operators to keep fares down and enable them to run services that might not otherwise be commercially viable.

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Campaigners fear that the cuts are likely to impact on the government's aim to cut car miles in Scotland and help protect the environment while low emission zones are being established across the country banning older cars.

Five years ago the Scottish Government's Transport Scotland agency said the "transformational" £500m fund aimed to deliver bus priority measures across Scotland and address a decline in passengers.

It said the fund was also expected to leverage other bus service improvements to help tackle the climate emergency and cut car use.

But the Herald can further reveal that since then, rather than there being a recovery in passenger journeys on local bus services in Scotland - it has actually fallen.

The latest Department for Transport tracker shows that in pre-pandemic 2019 there were 386m journeys but in 2022/23 that has fallen to 301m. Throughout the 1990s, there were typically 500m journeys made annually by bus.

And the number of public service buses run by local operators in Scotland has slumped by over 20% from 4,100 in 2019 to 3,200 in 2023. Sixteen years ago there were 5,400 in operation.

According to Transport Scotland's website, the fund is "currently closed for applications".

The Confederation of Passenger Transport Scotland has raised its concerns about the spend with Scottish ministers and is seeking talks to seek assurances over the fund commitment.

They query why the fund is being referred to as part of a long term package of support and what it means to work in progress.

CPT Scotland said: "Our members fear that even a temporary ‘pause’ in this work could prove disastrous for the future of bus priority and is likely to majorly impact on the Government’s stated aim to reduce car kms."

Sustainable transport charity Transform Scotland said that it was "deeply concerned" about the future prospects for Scotland's buses.

Colin Howden, the charity's director said: "The Scottish Government’s decision to cancel its £500m commitment to bus priority undermines efforts to improve bus service reliability and speed, which are the top barriers to bus use.

“Buses are most heavily used by lower income households, so moving forward quickly with bus priority would have the greatest benefits for those people most affected by the cost-of-living crisis.

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"The Government’s announcement in 2019 of a £500 million investment in bus priority was rightly welcomed as a transformational commitment to Scotland’s main form of public transport. But it’s over four years since the Scottish Government announced the Bus Partnership Fund and we’re yet to see a single metre of new bus lane on the ground.

“The slow speed and unreliability of bus services is one of the principal barriers that deters people from taking the bus. Putting in place new bus priority would reduce congestion and improve journey times, meaning time and money savings for both passengers and operators. But just 6% of the funds have so far been spent. This lack of progress will likely have further exacerbated fare increases and service cuts."

Another campaigner for green transport said that the measures to improve public transport should have been prioritised in advance of the introduction of low emission zones across Scotland.

"The fact that spending from this fund has been stopped at a time when we are supposed to be encouraging use of public transport just places the shift to sustainable travel into chaos," she said. "LEZs are, of course, welcome but there has to be an easy and efficient way to travel outwith petrol and diesel cars so how can cutting resources into buses be a way forward."

The net zero, energy and transport secretary Michael Matheson has previously described the fund as a “landmark, long-term capital investment of over £500m for bus priority measures”.

Projects in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh have received funding for preparatory work, including evidence for bus-only streets, bus lanes, and traffic lights. As of last year, it is understood major projects have yet to enter the consultation phase.

It emerged that since Glasgow's low emission zone was enforced in June, more than 25,000 fines have been issued.

Some £1.354m was expected to be brought in in the first four months of enforcement.

The amount brought in from fines has risen by over two-and-a-half times over the four months from £173,820 in June to £457,800 in September. In July, some £405,780 was raised and in August it was £422,280.

Enforcement is expected to be brought in in Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen in June, this year.

The motoring organisation RAC has previously warned ministers that the LEZs will discriminate against lower income households who rely on older cars and cannot afford to change up.

Exemptions are available for blue badge holders, motorbikes, mopeds and emergency vehicles. But in general petrol cars made before 2005 and diesels built before September 2014 are not allowed in the zone.

Campaigners had raised concerns that the criteria of the bus partnership fund would prevent councils from setting up publicly-run bus companies, despite provision made for this in an associated Transport Bill. Instead, only organisations which have set-up bus service improvement partnerships (BSIPs) with commercial bus companies operating locally, were able to apply for the fund.

The Scottish Government has previously insisted that the decision to make the fund available only to BSIPs, which must include private bus companies as members, does not prevent them from running their own bus companies.

Mr Howden added: “Bus patronage has still to recover to pre-pandemic levels, and, as expected, this has led to cuts to bus services and frequencies, and increased fares. So the decision of the Scottish Government to cancel its main investment fund for bus services as part of its Scottish Budget for 2024/25 is particularly foolish.

“The success of bus priority measures is clear. Aberdeen’s introduction of bus gates has resulted in shorter journey times – with the savings for First and Stagecoach being reinvested to provide free travel for passengers in January.”

Mr Matheson, told a bus partnership conference in February 2021 that there was a commitment to the fund and that it sent a "clear signal that we were looking towards the future".

"Together with our unprecedented investment in active travel, this long-term funding commitment is aimed at encouraging a transition away from single occupancy car use to more sustainable travel, linking bus and other public transport modes to walking, cycling and wheeling."

He said there was an ambitious commitment to achieve a 20% reduction in car kilometres by 2030.

"To affect that that will require us to take forward a range of actions. One thing is clear though - we need a positive alternative and the delivery of bus partnership and the Bus Partnership Fund is absolutely crucial to that," he said.

Transport Scotland said the pausing of the fund  was down to "budgetary constraints". 

A spokesman said: "Our firm commitment to bus continues with almost £430 million in funding for concessionary travel and bus services planned for 2024/25.

“This will see investment of over £370 million to support concessionary bus travel, providing access to free bus travel for over 2 million people, funding of almost £50 million to help ensure our bus operators can continue to provide access to affordable transport, and around £6 million to continue our support for the Community Bus Fund.

“Given the budgetary constraints faced the Bus Partnership Fund will be paused for next year. Fund spend will proceed as planned for 2023-24 to complete the delivery of the bus infrastructure underway for the benefit of passengers and operators, and conclude appraisal work underway that could inform future investment. This pausing presents an opportunity to recast bus priority projects within the wider work to be undertaken to deliver on our vision for the Future of Public Transport.”