FARE PLAY TO CHARITY ECO BUSES
Route to city aims to cut emissions
AN ECO charity has taken public transport into its own hands – by registering as a bus operator and launching its own service.
Climate Action Strathaven in South Lanarkshire has established a community bus service to Glasgow – including free travel for over-60s and under-22s with bus passes.
It is hoped the initiative, offering a direct express route into the city, will replace hundreds of car journeys every week and slash local emissions.
A direct bus service into Glasgow hadn’t been available for many years – with residents forced to either take multiple buses and trains or drive.
The idea was the brainchild of Tom Barbour, chair of the trustees at the charity, who sensed it would be popular among locals sick of congested roads and a poor public transport. He spent a night counting cars going in and out of the town to assess the scale of the problem.
Barbour told the Daily Record: “We counted more than 2000 cars every three hours.
“At its peak, there was a car leaving Strathaven every four seconds – that’s just complete and utter madness.”
A survey of locals followed, which found 85 per cent would consider ditching their car for the trip to Glasgow if there was a reliable bus service.
The charity was convinced the scheme was viable and brought in programme manager Alison Harley to see out the project, hiring a bus driver and sorting out logistics.
She said as well as the green positives, it became clear locals were also enthusiastic about mental health benefits from the initiative.
She added: “A lot of over-60s just felt cut off from cities, especially with the pandemic and then the pandemic recovery.
“The mental health and wellbeing side has now become almost as important as lowering emissions.
“People are walking into our hub and saying, ‘Thank you so much for putting the bus on, you don’t know what it means to me.’”
Barbour said he also hoped Glaswegians would take up the chance to visit the market town, which boasts Strathaven Park and the historic Strathaven Castle.
The Climate Action Strathaven bus service runs five return journeys a day, six days a week. Single tickets cost £5 and a return is £10.