Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government is aware of the importance of rural bus services and is committed, in conjunction with operators and local authorities, to looking at ways of improving services. I recently convened the first Bus Taskforce to bring key players in the sector together to make bus travel a more attractive choice for passengers through joint commitments to reform and improve bus services.

We are supporting bus use through the under 22s free bus travel scheme, which means that around half of Scotland’s population are now eligible for free bus travel. As of 21 November, 71.6% of eligible children and young people in Fife had an active National Entitlement Card allowing them to access the Young Persons' Free Bus Travel Scheme, and those cardholders have already made over 2.6 million journeys.

We continue to provide financial support for bus services to keep services more extensive and fares more affordable than would otherwise be the case. Payments are based on the distance buses are operated, which is a particular advantage in rural areas where the routes are generally longer. Funding is also provided to local authorities in their annual settlement to support services they consider socially necessary and for community transport services, which can play an important role in rural transport networks.

In addition, the Scottish Government is supporting a number of local projects within Fife. This includes: multi operator ticketing schemes such as the ABC scheme and OneTicket; investing in the the University of St Andrews “MaaSterplan” pilot which aims to increase the utilisation of the existing Go-Flexi Demand Responsive Transport (DRT) service; and the £1.6 million award from the Bus Partnership Fund to Fife Bus Partnership to appraise bus priority options along key corridors in Fife.