Glasgow bus fares to be capped at 'affordable levels'

Councillor Anna Richardson said price limits on tickets and a 'tap and cap' system similar to those in place in Edinburgh and London will be a major step forward in improving the city's under-performing transport network.

It comes as Glasgow's first transport strategy in more than a decade goes before councillors tomorrow.

Officials have set a target of cutting the kilometres travelled by private car in the city by 30% by 2030 to help the environment and support public health.

A recent report commissioned by Glasgow City Council and SPT found the bus system to be lagging behind those in other cities, particularly in terms of fares, ticketing and journey times.

The research suggests that bridging the gap to create a world-class transport system would cost more than £300 million in capital investment alongside £22.7m per annum of revenue funding and retention of £21m of National Concessionary funding.

But, it says, more "modest ambitions" can be set in motion with the creation of a voluntary partnerships such as a Bus Service Improvement Partnership (BSIP).

While the council and bus operators already work together within the Glasgow Bus Partnership, tomorrow's committee will look at approving a BSIP, which is a more formal arrangement.

The Glasgow Transport Strategy requires the council to build on commitments secured through the Glasgow Bus Partnership to bring in multi-operator bus fare capping by 2023 and tap and cap ticketing across bus, rail and subway by the end of 2024.

Anna, the city's first sustainability convenor, said: "I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that the work we commissioned came back and said, 'You don't have a world class bus network here in Glasgow'.

"We know that.

"And yet that's what we need to inspire to and so we have to be willing to speak out about where there are weaknesses.

"Tap and cap is the start of that work around ticketing.

"You can tap on and off with your contactless card and you don't have to worry about how much the fare will be, you don't have to worry about what those fares will be because the capping element will come in.

"So we're removing the barriers that are there to using the buses."

While "affordability" means different things to different people, Anna said it would be crucial to ensure that bus fare costs are accessible to everyone.

She added: "We need to keep the discussion about what is a reasonable and affordable fare on the table.

"And that's really important in making sure public transport serves everyone across the city whatever their means.

"One of the things we have committed to is if we enter into a formal bus partnership that affordability of fares will be locked in as a result of that partnership and that really has to be top of the agenda.

"Affordability is one that we really have to start a conversation on and a formal bus partnership will not be put in place without us setting some parameters around what we mean about that."

Moving to a BSIP would also give the council and bus operators access to the Scottish Government's £500m bus partnership fund.

It also allows the council to explore forward-thinking transport models, such as a publicly-run bus service.

Anna said: "That's years down the line in terms of preparatory work we would need to get there.

"In the transport strategy we've been very clear that we will continue to do that preparatory work in the background, so those doors are not closed.

"But we also understand that we need to help the travelling public today, tomorrow, next week and next year - we can't wait for a change of governance so in terms of the quick wins, the only way to do that is to get that formalised BSIP in place to unlock funding from the Scottish Government.

"It also locks us in to very clear targets."