Recent data reveals that in 2024-25 approximately 334m passenger journeys were made by bus, marking a 31 per cent decrease from figures when the SNP came into power in 2007-08.
Emily Donnelly, Friends of the Earth senior transport campaigner, said that responsibility for the 150 million fewer bus passengers lies with private companies having “driven away tens of millions of passenger journeys.”
On 17 October, First Minister John Swinney announced plans for franchising and regulation of Scotland’s bus networks to bring them into public control by the end of the parliamentary term in 2031.
But Donnelly says that “we need to address the question of ownership too,” as “the taxpayer will still be footing the very large bill.”
Donnelly describes franchising as “a great move forward to set better routes,” but notes that “the taxpayer will still be footing the very large bill.” She advocates for public ownership alongside franchising, regarding it as “fundamental to building a system that works for our communities, not returns for distant corporations and shareholders.”
With franchising, the government would outline route and timetable plans that would aim to better serve communities and attract greater uptake, with bus operators then being invited to compete for the business.
One commuter told The Student that he was “very excited” by Swinney’s announcement of the plan. He described how “the cuts to the bus networks in Fife are an absolute nightmare, and this change would be a game-changing fix,” referencing Stagecoach’s proposed route cuts that have drawn significant backlash.
He also stated that “overall the bus system is so dysfunctional for people without an NEC card, the price of tickets can be unjustifiably ridiculous.”
Over half of the bus journeys made in 2024-25 were made under the National Concessionary Travel Scheme.
Many students were concerned by the significant decline in bus use compared to two decades ago and the environmental impact — Scotland’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions is domestic transport.
Image by Isabel Beiboer for The Student
