The Scottish Government’s £2 bus fare pilot could be forced to end early if it runs out of money. with concerns emerging over the estimated 200,000 cruise ship passengers visiting the Highlands and Islands draining the available funding.
Despite the boost to the local economy those visitors arriving off the 95 huge ships that are expected to dock in Invergordon there is a concern that such numbers could impact the pilot, says the Northern Times.
First Minister John Swinney travelled north last month to personally launch the pilot with the intention of helping people with cost of living challenges and to encourage public transport use. The government worked with the Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership (HITRANS) to deliver the Regional Bus Fare Cap Pilot through a £10 million investment.
It caps the maximum single adult bus fare at £2 with participating operators reimbursed by Transport Scotland and as well as making bus travel easier and cheaper it is hoped that it will encourage greater use of public transport
But now it has emerged that while that pilot is scheduled to run until March 2027 it could run out of funds well before then, so without additional funding it could come to a premature halt.
One of the operators involved in the scheme Ember said: “The trial is due to run until 22 March 2027. The trial has a fixed budget and may end early if the budget is used faster than the Government expects. At the end of the trial, fares will revert to their level before the cap.”
That was confirmed by a Transport Scotland spokesperson who said:
“The pilot is planned to run for 12 months in each of the pilot areas (phased commencement by pilot area means a similar planned phased end date). The Scottish Budget commitment was a total of £10m for the establishment and operation of the pilot. Pilot timescales are subject to change depending on the level of passenger demand.”
Duncan Macpherson, an independent Highlands and Islands candidate said:
“It’s absolutely unacceptable that well-heeled international visitors” are benefiting from the scheme that is “ultimately paid for from Scottish taxpayers’ hard-earned money.”
His concern is that such passenger numbers could “rapidly use up all of the allocated £10m funds which were designed to give hard-pressed families and hardworking Highland residents the opportunity to enjoy reduced price bus travel.”
He concluded:
“I hope that now that it’s been brought to the government’s attention that a ‘specific condition’ is added that it’s for citizens of the Highlands only, therefore the people that pay their taxes to the government, to benefit from.
“And it’s certainly not intended or acceptable for the thousands of international visitors arriving to our ports and Highland and Island shores to get £2 subsidised bus fares paid by Scotland’s taxpayers.”
(Picture: Highways News)
