Our regional transport authority – Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) – is now running another really important public consultation on the final Strathclyde Regional Bus Strategy.
We’re delighted that SPT has listened to Better Buses for Strathclyde‘s demands and has now set out decisive plans to bring our bus network back into public control (through ‘bus franchising’) as central to the Strategy.
We need all our supporters to take 5 minutes to complete the consultation before the deadline on Thursday 29 May 2025, 5pm.
Please Strongly Support SPT’s proposal to “take forward bus franchising”.
SPT’s Strategy sets out seven Themes for “the bus network we need” in the future (shown in the image above). We think these are great!
Please tell SPT that all seven Themes are Very Important – and that you Strongly Agree they should all be included within the Strategy.
If you have more time, there are a few sections of the consultation where you can leave additional comments.
This is the last time we will be consulted before SPT’s bus franchising plans are fully-developed and finalised over the next two years.
It is therefore vital that we seize this opportunity and urge SPT to be as ambitious as possible when designing our future bus network – and to work towards a fully publicly-owned system.
There are several points in the Strategy where SPT sets out what could be achieved with “the most ambitious” form of bus franchising – we need SPT to know that this is what we expect to see in their final plans. This includes ensuring that SPT:
- opts for the “Major network redesign” (as described on p.48 and on p.70) with enhanced bus frequencies and region-wide service level improvements.
- introduces affordable flat bus fares across the region, with best value daily/weekly capping and “hopper” fares (as described on p.71)
- creates a “one-stop-shop” for passenger information and customer service (as described on p.72)
- takes all bus fleets and depots back into public ownership (as described on p.74)
- sets up a new publicly-owned bus company for our region – this is barely mentioned in the Strategy (there is one reference to “small-scale municipal bus operations” on p.70) which is a massive oversight given there was 86% public support for this in the last consultation in 2024. See below for why this is so important – and help us to make SPT listen!
Please note that SPT state they require “honest and unique responses” to the consultation – so try to write these comments in your own words.
We need publicly-owned buses
Whilst we Strongly Support SPT’s plans to “take forward bus franchising” as an essential way of getting control back over our bus network (which has been in the hands of private companies since bus deregulation in 1986) – we also see franchising as a stepping stone to getting more of the network back into direct public ownership.
Publicly-owned buses were by far the most popular option presented in SPT’s last consultation in 2024 – with 86% of individuals supporting SPT’s proposal to “investigate municipal bus operations”.
Why has this overwhelming support for publicly-owned buses not been reflected in the Strategy?
There is still only one reference to “small-scale municipal bus operations” on p.70, which is just not good enough. SPT must be much more ambitious about the role of a new publicly-owned operator in our future bus network.
As new STUC Research shows, progressing franchising without the development of a new publicly-owned bus company to deliver services “risks locking in some of the worst aspects of the current system and creating new opportunities for private gain.”
“Greater public control through franchising and the widespread re-establishment of public-ownership of bus operations must go hand in hand to maximise the benefits of… bus market reform in Scotland.” p.4-5
We all know that by far the most affordable, successful and trusted bus company in Scotland is Edinburgh’s publicly-owned Lothian Buses (the largest municipal bus company in the UK co-owned by City of Edinburgh, Midlothian, East Lothian and West Lothian councils).
All profits generated by Lothian Buses are reinvested back into expanding and improving public transport in their region, including investing in low emission vehicles and the tram system.
The ultimate aim of SPT’s Bus Strategy must be to re-build a publicly-owned Strathclyde Buses (co-owned by our 12 local authorities through SPT) which can provide us with the same great service as Lothian Buses.
As shown by Transport for Quality of Life, this would be by far the simplest and most cost-effective way of delivering high-quality bus services across our region in the long-term.
And it is the bus franchising process that offers us a way to do this. Firstly by enabling SPT to take all bus fleets and depots back into public ownership as part of the implementation process – something which SPT must commit to.
Then SPT can directly-award contracts to our new publicly-owned operator, Strathclyde Buses, so it gradually takes over more of the network. This would cut the costs of managing the franchising process and provide much more flexibility for altering and enhancing service provision.
As the results from the previous public consultation clearly show, having a fully publicly-owned bus operator is by far the best way to re-build public trust in the bus network – which is one of the Strategy’s key themes.
It would also make it much easier to deliver a fully-accessible network – with the same high-quality accessibility standards across the region’s entire bus fleet, and to manage the process of transitioning to a fully-electric fleet.
We need Real Passenger Representation
We welcome SPT’s proposals to “Develop a bus passenger forum to support the planning and engagement on bus franchising” (on p.79).
However, it is vital that this forum is made of up of real bus passengers, and not employees of organisations like Transport Focus and so-called ‘Bus Users Scotland’ which are both funded by the Scottish Government and run by bus industry insiders, with no actual bus users involved.
Instead, SPT must work with the region’s real grassroots passenger groups, like Get Glasgow Moving and Better Buses for Strathclyde – supported by more than 12,000 people – to select representatives for this important forum. This will help to ensure that bus franchising is developed in the interests of passengers.
