Scotland’s buses are heading back into public control
by For nearly forty years, Scotland’s local bus networks have been on a rollercoaster engineered by Margaret Thatcher’s 1980s deregulation experiment.
Under the old system leaving public transport entirely to the whims of commercial boardrooms has been as effective as giving your dog the responsibility of sharing out the family’s burgers.
Companies can pull vital routes, stranding hospital patients or isolating pensioners, and leaving rural villages stranded high and dry.
Thankfully, this SNP Government is putting the pedal to the metal to steer Scotland out of this cul-de-sac.
Already, thanks to the SNP, free bus travel is a success for 2.4 million people across Scotland – including everyone under 22, eligible disabled citizens and the over-60s.
That is a financial anchor for families weathering a cost-of-living crisis whipped up by Westminster’s incompetent decisions.
And we have built on that momentum with the rollout of the £2 bus fare cap which has brought cheaper travel to half of Scotland’s population in Strathclyde and the Highlands and Islands; and it will be expanding to Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire from April 2027.
But affordability is only half the journey. As it could be said old, a cheap ticket is cold comfort if there isn’t a bus turning up at the stop.
That is why the SNP is cutting through the bureaucratic red tape – sweeping away the sluggish independent franchising panel that has acted like an anchor dragging behind a racing yacht.
Through the upcoming Better Buses legislation, we are putting the power back into the hands of local authorities and regional transport partnerships to bring networks back into public control through franchising and regulation.
While Westminster parties offer up tired, piecemeal and disjointed policies, the SNP is delivering a coherent, forward-looking vision for Scotland’s public transport system on the roads.
But let us be under no illusion – managing our own infrastructure with one hand tied behind our back by restrictive Westminster legislation is like trying to drive a double-decker bus from the upstairs back seat.
This is the bigger picture. When we look at how Scotland’s transport, economy, and everyday cost of living are impacted, the reality becomes as plain as day.
Decisions about Scotland are infinitely better made by the elected representatives of the people of Scotland who actually live in those communities.
This is yet another element that adds to why Scotland should be an independent nation – so we can finally wield the full powers that Westminster currently controls and guards jealously.
Powers that directly dictate the cost of living for ordinary Scots, secure our industrial future, and ensure our public services are driven entirely by the public good, rather than private profit.
It is time for Scotland to take the wheel for good.