Commenting on today’s publication by the Scottish Government of its ‘Scottish Transport Statistics 2020‘ publication, Transform director Colin Howden said:
“It’s hardly surprising that people will abandon buses if bus fares continue to increase and the buses themselves are given no priority over single-occupant cars.
“The government has subsequently committed to free bus travel for the under-19s and £500m for bus priority schemes. These should help to turn around some of these adverse trends. However, Michael Matheson needs to tell his civil servants at Transport Scotland to get a move on. The bus priority measures were first promised almost 18 months ago but there’s not been a single new bus lane put in place since.
“There’s also been zero progress in implementing bus priority on the Glasgow motorway network. Transport Scotland seems to find unlimited resources for building new roads but has completely failed to take action to manage its existing road asset in a sustainable fashion. During the same period, Local Authorities have scrambled to implement different road layouts for Covid purposes, while Transport Scotland has done nothing.”
