Smart travel card funding is slashed
Labour say commuters treated ‘with contempt’
COMMUTERS are being treated with “contempt” by SNP ministers after funding to get a long-awaited travel smartcard scheme off the ground was slashed, Labour has claimed.
The party hit out after it was revealed the Scottish Government was cutting the budget for the project from £4.9million to £3.9million.
The card, which would allow money to be preloaded for use on trains, buses, ferries, trams and the Glasgow subway system, was announced in 2012 by Nicola Sturgeon.
But a decade on, the system has failed to materialise – despite a similar system being used to implement free travel for all delegates at the COP26 conference in Glasgow last year.
The Record reported how city residents were left “raging” after politicians and activists from around the world could take advantage of a single smartcard that worked on all buses and trains – while ordinary Glaswegians are left to use outdated ticketing technology.
And we revealed how the once-popular Daytripper scheme – which allowed two adults and up to four children unlimited travel for one day on most trains, buses and the Subway – had been axed by Strathclyde
Passenger Transport just days before COP26 started.
In response to a question from Labour MSP Paul Sweeney in November, First Minister Sturgeon said the Scottish Government was “working towards” the goal of a nationwide smartcard.
Labour transport spokesman Neil Bibby said: “We shouldn’t be holding our breath waiting for the SNP to deliver on their years-old smart ticketing promise. After years of delays and downgrades, the impossible suddenly became possible for COP26 delegates – but the Scottish public are still stuck with a second-rate service.
“The SNP are showing total contempt for the people they are supposed to represent.
“Scotland deserves the same seamless, affordable public transport service COP26 VIPs enjoyed – and the SNP need to make it happen.”
A Transport Scotland spokesman said: “Our vision is that all journeys on Scotland’s public transport networks can be made using some form of smart ticketing or payment and progress has already been made towards achieving this ambition.
“Scotland is the first in the UK to offer smartcard compatibility across modes – where multiple tickets for different modes can be loaded on to a single smartcard – and contactless payment is now being accepted on over 95 per cent of buses in Scotland.
“We have strengthened measures in the 2019 Transport (Scotland) Act to support local ticketing schemes and continue to work with local authorities, regional transport partnerships and operators to enable ticketing schemes to move on to smart platforms.”