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Environmental campaigners have expressed their anger over the Scottish Government’s announcement it will scrap a pilot study that would have capped bus fares.

The Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Fiona Hyslop, confirmed the decision at the Net Zero Committee this morning. The Scottish Government also reinstated peak fares for trains last Autumn.

Transport is Scotland most polluting sector in terms of climate emissions, with limited reductions over the past 30 years.

Friends of the Earth Scotland head of campaigns Caroline Rance commented,

“Capping bus fares, as the UK Government has done in England, would be an important step towards making public transport more affordable and attractive to people across Scotland. Buses are a climate solution that will help lower income households, cut toxic air pollution on our streets and provide real green jobs.

“The Transport Minister has already brought back expensive peak fares for train users and this decision shows that the Scottish Government isn’t interested in making life easier for commuters or cutting emissions from our most climate polluting sector. Penny-pinching moves like this defy reason when billions of pounds remain trapped in the road expansion budget.”

“Scotland’s bus passenger numbers have fallen steeply in recent years while fares have risen, yet Ministers have shown next to no interest in radically improving services. Stories abound of vital bus routes being axed and people being cut off from work, education and accessing vital services.

Fare cap to boost bus travel ditched by SNP Scottish Government
https://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/fare-cap-to-boost-bus-travel-ditched-by-snp-scottish-government-4953210

The Scottish Transport Statistics 2022 showed that 234 million journeys were made by bus in 2021-22. In 2018-19, the last full year of data pre-pandemic, there were 373 million journeys. This incomplete recovery is not surprising as, pre-pandemic, journey numbers have fallen every year since a peak of 487 million in 2007-08 (a 54 per cent drop).
https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/scottish-transport-statistics-2022/chapter-02-bus-and-coach-travel/
https://spice-spotlight.scot/2023/12/05/bus-accessibility-affordability-and-reliance-across-scotland/

Scottish greenhouse gas statistics for 2022
https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-greenhouse-gas-statistics-2022/pages/section-b–results/

Friends of the Earth Scotland is:
* Scotland’s leading environmental campaigning organisation
* An independent Scottish charity with a network of thousands of supporters and active local groups across Scotland
* Part of the largest grassroots environmental network in the world, uniting over 2 million supporters, 73 national member groups, and 5,000 local activist groups.
www.foe.scot