Greens promise to bring Scotland’s buses into public ownership

The Greens have pledged to to bring Scotland’s buses under public ownership, saying the move would stop travellers being being used as a “cash cow” by operators.

With the party already pledging to make bus transport free for everyone in Scotland, co-leader Ross Greer said bringing services into public ownership would “end the scandal of passengers paying through their nose to line the pockets of billionaire company owners”.

ScotRail services are already publicly owned, after a move by the Scottish Government in 2022.

The Greens, meanwhile, believe that bringing bus services under public ownership would give local people more say over the routes they rely on.

Speaking out about the move, Mr Greer said: “For too long, Scotland’s bus network has been treated as a cash cow by private owners, while passengers are left dealing with unreliable services, shrinking timetables and rising fares.

“The Scottish Greens will end that scandal and put passengers first through public ownership.”

He added: “Too many workers are struggling to afford their commute and whole communities are being left stranded while private bus companies hike fares, slash routes and put profit before people.

“Other parties have just accepted this broken transport system, but the Scottish Greens are demanding better.”

With the Greens also promising to expand free bus travel to everyone in Scotland, Mr Greer said give no cost travel to under-22s had “shown that free bus travel works”.

But he added: “Now, it is time to go further. We want to bring Scotland’s buses back into public hands and end the scandal of passengers paying through their nose to line the pockets of billionaire company owners.”