Question reference: S6W-17300
- Asked by: Fiona Hyslop, MSP for Linlithgow, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 20 April 2023
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Current status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 28 April 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it can take to support commercial bus operators in maintaining essential but less commercially viable service routes, in order to ensure that communities have access to public transport and that these bus operators are reaching their net zero obligations.
Answer
Transport Scotland provides an annual subsidy through the Network Support Grant (NSG) to the bus industry, the aim of which is to keep fares more affordable and support bus operators to run services that might not otherwise be commercially viable.
Transport Scotland are supporting more services to be commercially viable with extra funding for a marketing campaign from Scottish Government, to encourage people back to bus. Scotland also encourages bus use with the most generous concessionary scheme in the UK, with over 2.3 million people, including everyone under 22 and over 60, and disabled people and companions, eligible for free bus travel. This complements our broad package of long-term investment in bus, including addressing congestion through bus priority infrastructure.