Elections for Holyrood (7 May 2026) are on the horizon. EBUG has sent a list of key bus-related ‘calls for action’ to every political party with an identifiable manifesto contact.
RESTORE THE BUS PARTNERSHIP FUND
To improve travel times and reliability, more bus priority highway infrastructure is needed. The Bus Partnership Fund was the most significant Scottish Government scheme to do so, but was closed in 2024 with less than £30 million of a £500 million fund spent. It is even worse that much of that £30m was spent on project development, which would bear fruit only if work on the ground was completed.
The Bus Infrastructure Fund which replaced it has, to date, allocated £20 million. At that rate, it would take 25 years to spend an equivalent amount.
Timescale: 5 years (duration of the new Parliament)
Cost: £450 million (£500m minus £30m already spent and £20m allocated via BIF)
CONCESSIONARY FARES
Retain the current under-22s/over-60s/disabled schemes.
Extend the scheme to include travel on Edinburgh Trams and Glasgow Subway. NEC card holders living outside Scotland’s two largest cities cannot use them on these services (add-on funding by local Councils provides free travel to Glasgow/Edinburgh residents).
Edinburgh Trams and Glasgow Subway are part of local transport networks in the same way as buses. Currently, card holders from the rest of Scotland can travel to and within Edinburgh and Glasgow by bus, but not by Tram or Subway.
In the absence of any prospect of national Integrated Ticketing in the next 10 years https://www.transport.gov.scot/publication/smart-digital-integrated-ticketing-and-payments-delivery-strategy-2024/executive-summary/, removing this anomaly would provide a degree of progress.
Timescale: 5 years (duration of the new Parliament)
ESTABLISH A ‘BUS SERVICE STANDARD’ AND A ‘BUS STOP GUARANTEE’
The availability and quality of bus services and stops varies widely across Scotland, as set out in https://transform.scot/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Life-in-the-Bus-Lane-Transform-Scotland-2025-04-02.pdf
National minimum standards would deliver equity and assurance to passengers. While this does not mean identical provision across Scotland, a framework could be categorised by Urban/Semi Urban/Rural areas, for example.
At bus stops, it could include seating, lighting, maintenance and service information standards.
Timescale: 3 years to establish standard, followed by long-term implementation
Cost: minimal (to be delivered by existing staff)
ENFORCEMENT
Review what improvements are required for enforcing bus priority measures and other bus facilities.
Put in place the steps needed to allow the use of on-bus enforcement cameras.
Timescale: 1 year (review and camera enforcement approval); ongoing thereafter.