Question reference: S6W-14435
- Asked by: Sarah Boyack, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 27 January 2023
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Current status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 10 February 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to putting in place further discounts for students to access public transport.
Answer
The Scottish Government provides the most generous concessionary fare scheme in the UK, investing £300 million annually to provide free bus travel for over 2 million people. Over 2.3 million people, including everyone under 22 and aged 60 and over and eligible disabled people, can benefit from free bus travel.
We introduced free bus travel to everyone under 22 one year ago. In that time almost 45 million journeys have been made through the scheme helping young people and students cut their travel costs and also helping protect our climate. I strongly urge any under 22's, students or not, who have yet to make use of this scheme to do so.
Additionally, the Scottish Government is progressing the Fair Fares Review to ensure a sustainable and integrated approach to public transport fares that supports the long term viability of our public transport system as we recover from the pandemic. The Review is considering both the cost and availability of services and the range of discounts and concessionary schemes which are available on all modes including bus, rail and ferry.
As part of the Fair Fares Review, we have announced a pilot to remove peak-time rail fares on all Scotrail routes for a six month period, during the next financial year, as a way of making rail travel more affordable and attractive to travellers. Further details on both the rail peak-fares pilot and the Fair Fares Review will be announced in due course.