£2 fare cap comes to Scotland:

[overthewater]

Not sure what to make of this? You can tell the Scottish elections are next May, and the pilot scheme is the area with the fewest people.

By June, I bet it's forgotten all about.

The areas of Scotland to benefit from £2 trial bus fare cap revealed

Bus campaigners fear the pilot will increase the transport poverty gap in areas with no services

www.scotsman.com

A planned trial of bus fares capped at £2 is to be launched across the Highlands and Islands.

The long-awaited £10 million pilot which was announced last year will also cover Argyll & Bute, and Moray, Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said on Friday.

The start date has been officially announced, but the Scottish Greens said it would in late January.
Bus campaigners welcomed the move but said there were only limited services in many rural areas, and the scheme could widen the transport poverty gap....

 

[JKP]

Whilst the SNP and Greens do not have blanket MSPs in this area, the cynic in me would suggest that they are losing support and liable to lose out to the Liberals or even Reform.

 

[AilsaBus]

A pointless exercise if they aren't going to introduce it across all of Scotland.

 

[Buzby]

Only those aged 23 to 59 (and tourists)would benefit from this as everyone else gets free travel. As the area is known for its limited service, I see it as a trial to universal free bus travel which is certainly on the Greens radar. As for it happening in an election year - I doubt this would make the slightest difference.

 

[Falcon1200]

This would certainly be of far more benefit in the populated areas with more people and better bus services, but it is a start. Presumably the fare has been set at £2 to be different from, and better than, the horrid country south of the Border.

 

[Stan Drews]

They haven’t even spoken to the bus operators yet, so it could get interesting!

 

[route101]

They haven’t even spoken to the bus operators yet, so it could get interesting!

Certainly make it easier with McGills with their high single fares.

 

[Stan Drews]

Certainly make it easier with McGills with their high single fares.

McGill’s don’t operate in the pilot areas, but fairly sure those operators that do (primarily Stagecoach, Shiel Buses and West Coast Motors) will also have high single fares, as that is a consequence of how operators are reimbursed by the various concessionary schemes.

 

[NorthOxonian]

It will be interesting to see if Scottish Citylink falls within the scope of the cap, seeing as they do legitimately provide many local journeys particularly in the Highlands and parts of Argyll. It would seem odd if a coach between Inverness and Caithness would be included but Inverness to Fort William outwith the scope. But by the same token, some of the longer Citylink routes really are tremendously long and a £2 fare would make no sense (there are some long Stagecoach/WCM routes where it's a stretch, but Citylink would be even more extreme).

To give some concrete examples of these absurd savings that could end up being possible if this comes to fruition... current fares include Inverness to Elgin for £15.60 or Inverness to Thurso/Wick for £31 on Stagecoach, or if Citylink is included Inverness to Fort William for £14, Campbeltown to Luss for £25.40, Inverness to Portree for £35.90, and Uig to Bridge of Orchy for £55.90 (over 96% off!). I can foresee some issues with capacity on certain routes, though I suppose the counterargument is buses manage now with NEC cards.

 

[Stan Drews]

Yes, I’m sure there will be some very interesting conversations whenever they decide to talk to the bus operators.

 

[JKP]

Ah. Like many other Scottish Government initiatives, announced then suddenly withdrawn due to complications in practicality. I hope not, but £2 is too cheap, £3 would be better and help the budget.

 

[Volvodart]

Yes, I’m sure there will be some very interesting conversations whenever they decide to talk to the bus operators.

According to Bus Users there were only 4 bidders of which 2 were successful.

Bus Users UK helps shape Scotland’s £2 bus fare cap pilot for 2026...

Bus Users UK has been at the heart of the selection process for the Regional Transport Partnership (RTP) that will trial a £2 bus fare cap in Scotland. The pilot has been awarded jointly to Hitrans and Zetrans and will cover Highland, Moray, Argyll and Bute and island communities in the Western...

bususers.org

 

[NorthOxonian]

According to Bus Users there were only 4 bidders of which 2 were successful.

Bus Users UK helps shape Scotland’s £2 bus fare cap pilot for 2026...

Bus Users UK has been at the heart of the selection process for the Regional Transport Partnership (RTP) that will trial a £2 bus fare cap in Scotland. The pilot has been awarded jointly to Hitrans and Zetrans and will cover Highland, Moray, Argyll and Bute and island communities in the Western...

bususers.org

That looks like it's talking about which regions made a bid for this - not operators. In which case, 4 is actually a fairly high number - there are only 7 regions in total (as well as HITRANS and Zetrans, there is also Nestrans in Aberdeen City and Shire, Tactran in Tayside/Stirling, SEStran in the Lothians/Borders/Fife, SWestrans in Dumfries and Galloway, and the more well known SPT).

 

[overthewater]

The area that should have gotten the trail should have been SWestrans, especially since it created a mess last August.

This could have brought back much needed confidence in the network and help boost passengers numbers. It would have given it a good mix passengers since we have rural routes and Dumfries, and you wouldn't have to deal with Scottish Citylink issues just yet.

 

[markymark2000]

The area that should have gotten the trail should have been SWestrans, especially since it created a mess last August.

Not just that, but with a network which is predominantly tendered, it'd be far easier to make work with less negotiations.

 

[Aaron_TTL]

They haven’t even spoken to the bus operators yet, so it could get interesting!

Stagecoach will love this with their currently £9 St Andrews to Dundee tickets... this wont see the light of day in Fife anyway.

 

[GusB]

This would certainly be of far more benefit in the populated areas with more people and better bus services, but it is a start. Presumably the fare has been set at £2 to be different from, and better than, the horrid country south of the Border.

You're completely forgetting that the scheme south of the border was originally £2, then increased to £3. It may well be that the cap is brought in line with England should it be rolled out beyond the initial pilot project.

Ah. Like many other Scottish Government initiatives, announced then suddenly withdrawn due to complications in practicality. I hope not, but £2 is too cheap, £3 would be better and help the budget.

Give it a chance! We don't even have a start date yet and the scheme will run for a year.

The area that should have gotten the trail should have been SWestrans, especially since it created a mess last August.

This could have brought back much needed confidence in the network and help boost passengers numbers. It would have given it a good mix passengers since we have rural routes and Dumfries, and you wouldn't have to deal with Scottish Citylink issues just yet.

Was SWESTrans one of the Regional Transport Partnerships that submitted a bid to run the pilot scheme? If it didn't submit a bid, it was never going to win it!

 

[Volvodart]

Was SWESTrans one of the Regional Transport Partnerships that submitted a bid to run the pilot scheme? If it didn't submit a bid, it was never going to win it!

They did not submit a bid due to lack of information, staffing issue and limited capacity for extra passengers at peak times among the reasons.

pdf: https://dumfriesgalloway.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s73297/BOARD REPORT- Bus Fare Cap Report.pdf

 

[overthewater]

They did not submit a bid due to lack of information, staffing issue and limited capacity for extra passengers at peak times among the reasons.

pdf: https://dumfriesgalloway.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s73297/BOARD REPORT- Bus Fare Cap Report.pdf

Well, If anyone thought it was badly run before there deffo going to think it now. So they admitted it could have driven up passengers numbers, that is madness.

I take it SPT never bided either?

 

[Falcon1200]

You're completely forgetting that the scheme south of the border was originally £2

No, I had not forgotten that at all, but like you I live in Scotland so know only too well how such differences are created and portrayed.

 

[aron2smith]

This should've been all of Scotland outside of Lothian's area. Some of the places this cap could make the biggest difference with like Strathclyde and Aberdeenshire aren't even included.

 

[overthewater]

Some of the places this cap could make the biggest difference with like Strathclyde and Aberdeenshire aren't even included.

You seem to have not notice it's a trail . Whether it is expanded in 2027 to all over is questionable.

 

[JKP]

They did not submit a bid due to lack of information, staffing issue and limited capacity for extra passengers at peak times among the reasons.

pdf: https://dumfriesgalloway.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s73297/BOARD REPORT- Bus Fare Cap Report.pdf

Having read through the report I can understand why SWestran have decided not to proceed. The family run bus companies do not have the spare capacity to put on additional buses. I believe that some routes run full at school and college peaks now. The fact that details of how compensation would be paid are also lacking. There is also the detail of lack of time prior to 1st January to set up the back office changes that would be required.

It looks as though operators will be able to chose which routes are included in the scheme according to the report. Could this mean that Citylink, Ember etc will opt out leaving only local bus services offering the £2 fare?

 

[GusB]

This should've been all of Scotland outside of Lothian's area. Some of the places this cap could make the biggest difference with like Strathclyde and Aberdeenshire aren't even included.

If you were going to apply the scheme to all of Scotland, why exclude the Lothian area?

As noted above, it's just a pilot and there were four bids from Regional Transport Partnerships, two of which were successful (HITrans and Zetrans).

Whether or not the scheme is rolled out across the country will depend on how successful (or not) the pilot is.

 

[318266]

One must wonder if this money, presently being practically thrown at the oft-abused system of subsidised PSV travel, could be better used towards driving down the cost of rail fares, especially given that at present they are effectively made out to be a premium service amongst those lucky enough to be outwith the ages of 22-59... and this trial, if successful, would make it much cheaper to return on buses than railways for all ages as well as those 22-59.

I can't imagine that Transport Scotland isn't aware that they are effectively shooting themselves in the foot by pushing travellers towards the privately-run competitor to the railway they themselves operate, especially keeping in mind the present cost of living crisis?

 

[overthewater]

One must wonder if this money, presently being practically thrown at the oft-abused system of subsidised PSV travel, could be better used towards driving down the cost of rail fares, especially given that at present they are effectively made out to be a premium service amongst those lucky enough to be outwith the ages of 22-59... and this trial, if successful, would make it much cheaper to return on buses than railways for all ages as well as those 22-59.

I can't imagine that Transport Scotland isn't aware that they are effectively shooting themselves in the foot by pushing travellers towards the privately-run competitor to the railway they themselves operate, especially keeping in mind the present cost of living crisis?

There is still plenty of OAPS that pay for the trains. Just recently Stagecoach East Scotland had to reduced the coach service into Edinburgh from Kirkcaldy/ Levenmouth area because of the success of the new train line. You could make the buses free and people will stay pay for the train.

 

[318266]

There is still plenty of OAPS that pay for the trains. Just recently Stagecoach East Scotland had to reduced the coach service into Edinburgh from Kirkcaldy/ Levenmouth area because of the success of the new train line. You could make the buses free and people will stay pay for the train.

There are, in fact, people who pay for a premium service. However, the number who pay for the premium is not as much as if the premium service was brought down to the same level as the competition.

 

[aron2smith]

If you were going to apply the scheme to all of Scotland, why exclude the Lothian area?

As noted above, it's just a pilot and there were four bids from Regional Transport Partnerships, two of which were successful (HITrans and Zetrans).

Whether or not the scheme is rolled out across the country will depend on how successful (or not) the pilot is.

Lothian is unique in that it is a municipally run company, it already has caps, not just on singles but day tickets too. A bit like London, it does its own thing.

 

[GusB]

Lothian is unique in that it is a municipally run company, it already has caps, not just on singles but day tickets too. A bit like London, it does its own thing.

Lothian isn't subject to any cap. It may be unique (in Scotland) in that it's still under municipal ownership, but that doesn't change the fact that it still operates within the same de-regulated environment that every other company does. It's nothing like London.

The main difference is that it doesn't have to satisfy "the market" or private equity shareholders when it comes to paying out dividends.

 

[johncrossley]

I can't imagine that Transport Scotland isn't aware that they are effectively shooting themselves in the foot by pushing travellers towards the privately-run competitor to the railway they themselves operate, especially keeping in mind the present cost of living crisis?

Trains and buses complement each other and shouldn't be considered as competitors. I know that's the British way but we need to get out of this mindset.