As Scotland heads into an election year, bus operators and local authorities used this week’s CPT Scotland Conference in Edinburgh to call for change

Fairlie was press by operators on the need for more spending on bus priority measure

 
There was an air of frustration at this week’s CPT Scotland Conference in Edinburgh, with bus operators and local authorities urging the Scottish Government back up warm words with meaningful policy interventions.

Scotland’s minster for agriculture and connectivity, Jim Fairlie, highlighted the vital role that bus services play when he addressed the event. Afterwards representatives of bus operators pressed him on the need for more spending on bus priority measures to speed up services and make them more reliable – creating a virtous cycle to fuelled further investment in the service.

Andrew Jarvis, managing director (B2B) at First Bus, used the example of his coach journey into Edinburgh that morning, which had arrived late due to traffic congestion. He called on Fairlie to help deliver bus priority lanes on key routes into Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Fairlie’s response was not a popular one. He said that some bus priorites already existed and he suggested operators could do more to with on-vehicle branding to get this message across to motorists and lure them on board.

He observed Fiona Doherty, managing director of Stagecoach West Scotland, shaking her head. “It’s a little bit deeper,” she explained. “I think it’s about the consistency of that bus priority. So you can have bus priority in patches, but unless you get that start to finish then you’re always going to get caught in a little bit of traffic here and there, and that slows the journey right down.

“I think for us I would say that the investment we are able to make to improve those services is so dependent on the ability of those services to run to time.”

I will be brave enough to say that I do think you are wrong

Duncan Cameron, managing director of First Bus Scotland, echoed this view, and told Fairlie: “I will be brave enough to say that I do think you are wrong. I think it’s a lot more fundamental than that. That suggestion might help but the Bus Infrastructure Fund and the progress made, whilst it’s welcomed, it doesn’t touch the sides … We’ve actually gone backwards when you think two or three years ago £500m was on the table [with the Bus Partnership fund].”

Cameron asked Fairlie what bus operators could do in terms of messaging to help him unlock more funding – including multi-year funding, to accelerate progress. He responded by saying
multi-year funding was difficult.

Fairlie was also asked about the government’s plans to set a date for prohibiting the purchase of new diesel vehicles and the impact this could have on rural bus services in Scotland, where this transition will be more challenging. Asked whether his priority was rural accessibility or zero emissions, he said it was important to have both. “We’re going to set ourselves difficult challenges to meet – or else we’re just going to stagnate,” he said. “To me, there isn’t one that’s more important than the other.”

Commenting on this point in a subsequent discussion about rural buses, Ranald Robertson, director at HITRANS, the Highlands and Islands Transport Partnership said: “Losing services in rural areas is not a choice that’s justified by making the bus zero emission.”

Colin Craig, managing director of Campbeltown-based West Coast Motors, agreed. “We have to live in the real world,” he said. “Surely you have to prioritise service provision? Challenging dates have to be realistic.”

Representatives local authorities urged that the importance of revenue funding should not a overlooked. While capital funding is available, the money to maintain local bus services they are designed to help improve cannot be found. Margaret Roy, chair of ATCO Scotland, called for local authority transport budgets to be ringfenced, pointing out the knock-on effects that cutting transport budgets has elsewhere.

CPT Scotland used the conference to launch its manifesto for next year’s Holyrood elections, Shaping the Future of Bus and Coach in Scotland. It is challenging all parties at the Scottish Parliament 2026 elections to support five priorities to enhance bus and coach travel (see panel).

Paul White, director, CPT Scotland, said: “In particular, there is a real opportunity to boost Scotland’s economy by speeding up bus journeys.”

 
This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.

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