£2 fare cap comes to Scotland:

[WHL Spotter]

In reference to the section of the A82 between Ardlui & Tyndrum. Transport Scotland/Scottish Ministers have written in for the simplicity that the A82 between Ardlui and Tyndrum should be treated as part of the Strathclyde region, in words to that effect.

 

[Stan Drews]

Transport Scotland have provided a list of the initial participating operators.

£2 Bus Fare Cap | Transport Scotland

www.transport.gov.scot

Participating operators​

The following operators currently participate in the Strathclyde scheme:

• ARG Travel Ltd t/a Coakley
• Avondale Coaches
• Canavan Travel
• Citylink
• Climate Action Strathaven
• Colchri
• Ember Core
• First Glasgow
• Garelochhead Coaches
• Hobson Travel
• Houstons Mini Coaches
• JMB Travel
• McColls Travel
• McGills / McGills Midland Bluebird
• McNairns Coaches
• Parks of Hamilton
• Scottish Borders Council Buses
• Shuttle Buses
• South Ayrshire Community Transport
• Stagecoach
• Stuarts Coaches
• Todds Travel
• West Coast Motors
• Whitelaws Coaches
• Wilsons of Rhu

The following operator has confirmed they will be participating from Monday 14 September;

• PVT

Additional operators will join the scheme in the coming weeks. This page will be updated as further operators and services become available.

 

[overthewater]

In reference to the section of the A82 between Ardlui & Tyndrum. Transport Scotland/Scottish Ministers have written in for the simplicity that the A82 between Ardlui and Tyndrum should be treated as part of the Strathclyde region, in words to that effect.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Transport Scotland have provided a list of the initial participating operators.

£2 Bus Fare Cap | Transport Scotland

www.transport.gov.scot

Participating operators​

The following operators currently participate in the Strathclyde scheme:

I wonder when United coaches will join the scheme, that leaves half of Coatbridge not able to enjoy the scheme. Mind you the services are so dire I doubt there any fare paying passengers.

 

[erskinebus]

Millport Motors is the only other operator I can think of not (currently?) on the list, any others missing?

 

[styles]

Millport Motors is the only other operator I can think of not (currently?) on the list, any others missing?

Their highest fare is £4 for a return so it's probably not a great difference to the travelling public anyway. That's the same fare it would be under the fare cap.

A single is £2.30, which could be £2 under the fare cap, but the difference isn't even enough to buy a Freddo, and I expect most people are doing return journeys at which point it's the same as the fare cap anyway.

 

[jb66]

Millport Motors is the only other operator I can think of not (currently?) on the list, any others missing?

I dont see flixbus on the list?

 

[styles]

I dont see flixbus on the list?

FlixBus are not participating.

But then their Edinburgh-Glasgow fares are £5.99 so pretty competitive anyway against the £4.00 fare offered o CityLink.

 

[jb66]

FlixBus are not participating.

But then their Edinburgh-Glasgow fares are £5.99 so pretty competitive anyway against the £4.00 fare offered o CityLink.

Ember is only £3.10 from livingston and £2 from Harthill to Glasgow on their new E20 route so flixbus might have a bit of competition there

 

[styles]

Ember is only £3.10 from livingston and £2 from Harthill to Glasgow on their new E20 route so flixbus might have a bit of competition there

I mean, maybe, but really how many people are making this journey on such a regular basis that they'd care about 80p? Can't even get a bottle of water for that. We have to also eliminate people who are expensing this remember.

And how many people are doing Harthill to Glasgow really? I expect it's single digits per week even.

 

[jb66]

I mean, maybe, but really how many people are making this journey on such a regular basis that they'd care about 80p? Can't even get a bottle of water for that. We have to also eliminate people who are expensing this remember.

And how many people are doing Harthill to Glasgow really? I expect it's single digits per week even.

Its £5 single from livingston to Glasgow single minimum on flixbus sometimes higher so £10 return

£6.20 return is a big saving, i certainly wont take the train which takes longer and is double that price

 

[styles]

Its £5 single from livingston to Glasgow single minimum on flixbus sometimes higher so £10 return

£6.20 return is a big saving, i certainly wont take the train anymore at that price

I'm confused.

You said:

Ember is only £3.10 from livingston and £2 from Harthill to Glasgow on their new E20 route so flixbus might have a bit of competition there

So if it's £6.10 outwith the fare cap, and £4 within the fare cap, the difference is £2.10. The road journey is about an hour, and we're talking about return fares, so we're on about £1.05 per hour difference. Who's going to be complaining about this?

 

[jb66]

Flixbus costs £5 from livingston to Glasgow, then £5 back to Livingston. That = £10

Ember with the same journey is £3.10 there and £3.10 back which is £6.20

I think that is a big saving, not 80p its nearly 40% saving.

Im not sure what your on about per hour, both buses take the same time and both buses are quicker than the train from Livingston

Harthill I noticed is wholly in the price cap area so only £4 return from there

 

[styles]

Flixbus costs £5 from livingston to Glasgow, then £5 back to Livingston. That = £10

Ember with the same journey is £3.10 there and £3.10 back which is £6.20

I think that is a big saving, not 80p its nearly 40% saving.

So are you disputing your own figures now? No issue if so, but it'd be nice for it to be declared.

Im not sure what your on about per hour, both buses take the same time and both buses are quicker than the train from Livingston

I can't explain it in any simpler language to be honest. A £1.05 difference in an hour long bus journey is £1.05/hr. I can't dumb this statement down any more. It's a saving of £1.05 in an hour.

 

[jb66]

So are you disputing your own figures now? No issue if so, but it'd be nice for it to be declared.

I can't explain it in any simpler language to be honest. A £1.05 difference in an hour long bus journey is £1.05/hr. I can't dumb this statement down any more. It's a saving of £1.05 in an hour.

I think its an odd way to calculate a saving. Its 40% cheaper for the same journey.

You have read the original message wrong, I think thats why your confused.

Its £3.10 Livingston to Glasgow

Its £2 from harthill to Glasgow

Both significant savings over flixbus

 

[Scotrail344Lad]

And how many people are doing Harthill to Glasgow really? I expect it's single digits per week even.

Quite a few people use it from time to time (me included). I think quite a lot of uni students etc use it as a park and ride as well

 

[overthewater]

Wasn't there a peak journey which started at and ended at Harthill before the timetables improvements? 6.30am to Glasgow and 18.15 to Harthill? I'm lead to believe they carried decent loads.

 

[Spsf3232]

Wasn't there a peak journey which started at and ended at Harthill before the timetables improvements? 6.30am to Glasgow and 18.15 to Harthill? I'm lead to believe they carried decent loads.

I used to do one that went onto an M9 and that was always really busy

 

[318266]

FlixBus are not participating.

But then their Edinburgh-Glasgow fares are £5.99 so pretty competitive anyway against the £4.00 fare offered o CityLink.

The nature of Flixbus' demand pricing (which is their cash cow, at the end of the day) means that they couldn't even if the operator of their sole registered route wanted to.

 

[tbtc]

1. If the Strathclyde scheme is being introduced regardless of the Highlands/Islands "trial" then it seems odd to me. Either use the place that wanted to introduce it regardless as the "trial" or we accept that the decision has already been taken - the idea of a "trial" seems pretty redundant

2. This is going to be a nightmare to reverse one day, the inevitable headlines about fares going up from £2 to £20 (given that inflation would have meant commercial fares would have continued to rise) etc - the fact it's a relatively small number of fares won't stop them negative publicity. There was a lot of hostility in England with the rise to £3. Obviously the plan is for any such action to only take place once the current crop of MSPs etc have moved on to other things, but I worry about the consequences if and when the money runs out

3. Hypothetically, how would a non stop Glasgow-Inverness service be treated? If it doesn't stop in Stirlingshire/ Perthshire then would it just be four quid? Could this see the (unforeseen?) situation where operators remove some intermediate stops to game the system? For example, if the long term plan is for fares to be capped at "£2 per council area" then will that discourage Edinburgh-Perth/ Dundee buses from stopping in Fife (because a £4 fare will attract a lot more people that a £6 fare, even if you miss out on the Ferrytoll/Halbeath passengers? It could also affect some travel patterns, if the fare from (e.g.) Tayport/ Newport to St Andrews is half that of the fare over the bridge to Dundee (even though you can see Dundee from those towns)?

 

[overthewater]

Where still 4 years and 7 months away before they have to cover everyone with this cap. What is weirder is within the same time period England had the cap introduced to everyone, raised to £3 then brought it back down and still has a year to play with. I thought maybe Dumfries and galloway might be next but if you look at map it would be bias to the west, so I think Aberdeenshire or Tayside will be next, in the next few years.

What happens at the end of the so called trail in the highlands? What if the money runs out? They can not have it by Transport areas as mention above alot complaint will appear and they will be lot of backlash.

Personnel I say just scrap this stupid policy and just go for broke, IE everyone get National Entitlement card, but done over stages to make sure there no big bang on the bus network.

I've heard Stagecoach has drafted in extra coaches to Ayrshire for use on the X76 and X77. I wonder if we might see a renaissance within Ayrshire and other parts across Strathclyde, with new bus routes or improvements in the network. If Government has said this will stay in place until 2031 it gives the chance for Stagecoach, JMB, McGills to maybe try and test the waters. Heck we might get the X16 back.

 

[Stan Drews]

ScotGov have never suggested that it will be a series of regional schemes whenever they get to the stage of a national scheme, that has simply been touted by some misinformed commentators on this forum …and no doubt elsewhere!
In terms of non-stop services which cross one or other of the current boundaries, we were advised to create a phantom fare stage at the boundary, and then you would calculate the overall fare by adding £2 to your newly created fare stage. I believe Dalwhinnie was the chosen location for non-stop services on the A9 to/from Inverness.

The nature of Flixbus' demand pricing (which is their cash cow, at the end of the day) means that they couldn't even if the operator of their sole registered route wanted to.

Express Services don’t need to be registered to be part of the fare cap (or accept concessions), so no reason that FlixBus couldn’t be involved if they so wish.

 

[318266]

Express Services don’t need to be registered to be part of the fare cap (or accept concessions), so no reason that FlixBus couldn’t be involved if they so wish.

I fear you have misunderstood me. You cannot at the same time use demand pricing (where price changes by demand) with the fare cap... unless you want to give up with demand pricing altogether, or only use demand pricing on the non-capped section.

 

[overthewater]

ScotGov have never suggested that it will be a series of regional schemes whenever they get to the stage of a national scheme, that has simply been touted by some misinformed commentators on this forum …and no doubt elsewhere!
In terms of non-stop services which cross one or other of the current boundaries, we were advised to create a phantom fare stage at the boundary, and then you would calculate the overall fare by adding £2 to your newly created fare stage. I believe Dalwhinnie was the chosen location for non-stop services on the A9 to/from Inverness.

It's a strange way to get to a national scheme? Alot of people again assume it would be a bolt on. The Scottish Government has done a poor job explaining fully it's plans for this policy, All we know is "2031" we don't know when each area might appear or who will be next etc etc

So what is the plain? Will the next area added also be segregated or will all 3 become one? Or are they planning to keep it sperate until the last area is added.

Of course we could be waiting until 2031 for that to happen which would make it 5 years and by gum that is A long time in politics so we never know what around the conner.

 

[Stan Drews]

I fear you have misunderstood me. You cannot at the same time use demand pricing (where price changes by demand) with the fare cap... unless you want to give up with demand pricing altogether, or only use demand pricing on the non-capped section.

The demand pricing isn’t used to determine the reimbursement rates. There is a standard adult single fare table agreed with Transport Scotland for the purpose of calculating reimbursement for the free travel schemes and now the £2 fare cap. It is the same for all other operators which offer demand pricing online or on apps etc.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Sep 2026 ==

It's a strange way to get to a national scheme? Alot of people again assume it would be a bolt on. The Scottish Government has done a poor job explaining fully it's plans for this policy, All we know is "2031" we don't know when each area might appear or who will be next etc etc

So what is the plain? Will the next area added also be segregated or will all 3 become one? Or are they planning to keep it sperate until the last area is added.

Of course we could be waiting until 2031 for that to happen which would make it 5 years and by gum that is A long time in politics so we never know what around the conner.

You think there’s a plan!
That’s your first mistake. I wouldn’t waste your time trying to second guess what may happen next, as I can guarantee you that nobody at ScotGov or Transport Scotland knows.

 

[CMBS]

Millport Motors is the only other operator I can think of not (currently?) on the list, any others missing?

Wilsons Buses of Greenock don't appear to be participating either according to the list, in my opinion a poor decision given to the competition their main route, the 19 gets from McGills, with the 518 and 906 serving Branchton on a slightly better frequency.
Millport Motors also operate the 578A/B, which is tendered by SPT. I don't know if SPT subsidised routes are automatically capped, but again a poor decision due to competition from the Clydeflyer

NATA and CTG aren't participating either.

 

[Spsf3232]

The demand pricing isn’t used to determine the reimbursement rates. There is a standard adult single fare table agreed with Transport Scotland for the purpose of calculating reimbursement for the free travel schemes and now the £2 fare cap. It is the same for all other operators which offer demand pricing online or on apps etc.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 7 Sep 2026 ==



You think there’s a plan!
That’s your first mistake. I wouldn’t waste your time trying to second guess what may happen next, as I can guarantee you that nobody at ScotGov or Transport Scotland knows.

Would be interesting to know which rate Ember are reimbursed at as concessions are done with the onboard price which is around double the online price. If this is the case then takings will have doubled over night in the cap regions!

Example will be Glasgow to FW which was around £50 single. It will now be £4 but they get a lot more than they originally would have done

 

[318266]

Wilsons Buses of Greenock don't appear to be participating either according to the list, in my opinion a poor decision given to the competition their main route, the 19 gets from McGills, with the 518 and 906 serving Branchton on a slightly better frequency.
Millport Motors also operate the 578A/B, which is tendered by SPT. I don't know if SPT subsidised routes are automatically capped, but again a poor decision due to competition from the Clydeflyer

NATA and CTG aren't participating either.

Do they have fares above £2?

 

[CMBS]

Do they have fares above £2?

Can't find any public info on Wilsons fares

578A is ever so slightly above £2

 

[Volvodart]

Can't find any public info on Wilsons fares

Deleted - wrong Wilsons!

 

[paisleytrans]

Do they have fares above £2?

I believe a single for wilsons from branchton is £3 but a return is £3.50, or at least it was the last time I used their service which wasn't too long ago