Current status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 21 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact that the reported pause of the Bus Partnership Fund will have on its target of reducing car kilometres by 20% by 2030.
As outlined in the draft route map to achieving a 20% reduction in car km by 2030, achieving this commitment relies on a package of over 30 interventions. The route map does not apportion a specific reduction in car km to any single intervention such as the Bus Partnership Fund, which is one of a number of route map interventions which aim to encourage the use of public transport.
Bus Partnership 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 that could inform future investment. The pausing in 2024-5 presents an opportunity to recast bus priority work within a longer term more integrated public transport vision.
The Scottish Government is committed to making sustainable travel a more attractive option, which is why we invest over £2bn annually to support public transport including over £420 million allocated for bus services and concessionary fares in 2023-24 providing over 2 million people in Scotland with access to free bus travel. Our firm commitment to bus travel continues with almost £430 million in funding for concessionary travel and bus services planned for 2024-25.