Glasgow ‘needs Edinburgh style publicly-owned buses’

● Consultation closes today on re-regulation

Campaigners have stepped up calls for buses to be taken into public hands in Scotland’s biggest city.

A national consultation on the future of bus services across Scotland closes today.

There are growing calls for Glasgow’s bus services to be taken into public hands amid claims that the city is being “held to ransom” by private firms who rely on public subsidies but have axed services.

But the claims have been rejected one of the country’s biggest bus firms which has insisted that the overall “mileage” covered by services has barely dropped at all.

The Scottish Government consultation proposes to give Local Transport Authorities the power to take buses into public ownership and operate highly regulated franchises.

The move has the backing of transport campaigners and trade unions, particularly for the Glasgow area

Ellie Harrison, a Glasgow resident and volunteer campaigner for Get Glasgow Moving, said: “Glasgow is being held to ransom by private bus companie – 45 per cent of their income comes from public subsidies, yet they continue to cut vital services and hike up fares. We absolutely want a newly enhanced ‘Transport for Glasgow’ to be granted the powers necessary to run its own bus company, a new ‘Strathclyde Buses’.”

Campaigners are now calling for Glasgow City Council and surrounding councils, which presently make up Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, to assume ownership of services.

Dave Watson, Unison Scotland head of policy and public affairs, said: “The success of Lothian Buses shows a way forward for re-regulation of our buses, with greater public ownership and control, helping to deliver the high quality, affordable, environmentally friendly bus services that people need.”

First Bus, which runs many services in Glasgow, dismissed the claims.

It pointed to a recent report by KPMG which found that bus fares in Scotland have increased in real terms but by only 4.7 per cent over the past five years.

Total bus service mileage for commercial operators has dropped by 1 per cent, while local authority-supported mileage has dropped by 10 per cent.

A spokesman for the Confederation of Passenger Transport questioned whether publicly owned bus services may face fare hikes and a reduction in routes as budget cuts bite.