The cross-party campaigning for a better bus service in Paisley and Renfrewshire continues after a local Green MSP brought a debate on the subject to the Scottish Parliament.
Ross Greer, who represents the West of Scotland, told politicians at Holyrood, including Transport Minister Humza Yousaf, how McGills’ massive fare hike for students as well as sweeping fare rises from First Bus are causing financial problems for his constituents, especially those who have no access to other bus or rail routes.
The Green MSP highlighted how a publicly owned bus service, like Lothian Bus in Edinburgh, would be focussed on providing a quality service rather than maximising its profits and would be less likely to cut routes and raise fares by such a large margin.
Ross Greer MSP, said: “Bus services, despite being the overwhelming majority of public transport journeys, are treated as anything but a public service across most of the West of Scotland. Instead, they are run in the interest of private companies and their profit margins and as a result, we have seen bus services run for profit over people. So when times get tough, routes get cut, fares rise, and delays to pollution-reducing initiatives.
“It does not have to be this way of course. Lothian Bus in Edinburgh is a first class example of a publicly-run bus service that’s in the public interest. A bus service run in the public interest would not leave communities stranded in pursuit of maximised profits.
“In Renfrewshire, McGill’s buses have hiked fares for students by 50% by cutting their student day ticket. For a young person in Renfrew for example, where there is no rail alternative that’s about £20 more every month just to get to college or university for a couple of days each week – and it’s not the first time in recent year students have seen their fares go up with McGills.
“One young woman hit by this hike got in touch with me. Living in a small town in Renfrewshire, she has no other public transportation options than McGill’s buses. She has seen the price of a student ticket increase substantially in the few years since she started studying and she’s struggling to stay on her course with the constant financial pressures. It’s little wonder over 5000 people have signed a petition calling on McGill’s to reinstate the student ticket.”
Mr Greer said: “The Scottish Greens have estimated at the current rate, it would take 70 years to green the bus fleet in Scotland, and that includes from using public grants from the Scottish Green Bus Fund.
“It is great to see the Scottish Government commit an additional £10m in loan funds to retrofit buses to reduce emissions and to establishing an engine retrofitting centre in Scotland to support the delivering of air quality targets.
“Of course, policy towards public transportation cannot exist in isolation of other transport policies, particularly on the use of cars. With Scottish cities establishing low emission zones, we must accelerate the move towards sustainable transportation and ensure that our towns like Paisley are designed for people and not cars.”