Current status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 31 October 2016
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Bus Investment Fund support for the Ring of Breadalbane Explorer minibus service in Perth and Kinross is for three years only; what analysis it has carried out of demand for this service, and what its position is on extending the support.
The Bus Investment Fund (BIF) ran as a challenge fund for bus related projects from 2013 to 2016 for an initial period of three years after which it would be subject to review.
The Ring of Breadalbane explorer, as part of the grant conditions, provided statistics as to the project performance. The role of the BIF was not to support projects indefinitely, rather, it gave an opportunity for new or existing projects to access a level of financial support to enable them to improve their service and to collect data. It is hoped that once funding has ended projects will either be in a stronger position to continue commercially or have enough evidence collected to enable them to bid for funding from other avenues.