Transport / Hopes fare cap trial will make bus travel more attractive
THE LEAD officer of Shetland’s transport partnership hopes that a £2 fare cap trial will make bus travel more attractive to more people.
Michael Craigie also said there could be “significant savings” for people regularly using the bus for longer journeys.
The Scottish Greens, who had pushed for a Highlands and Islands bus fare cap trial in negotiations for this current financial year’s Scottish, said the pilot is set to kick off in Shetland at the end of January.
More information on the finer details of the £2 cap is expected soon.
Craigie said ZetTrans was “delighted” that a joint submission with Highland and Islands peers HiTrans was successful.
“At a community level, for those people that rely on bus travel as their main way of getting around, there will be an immediate saving on regular journeys which will be significant for many, especially on the longer journeys,” he said.
“A fare cap will also help make bus travel more attractive to more people and it will assist on encouraging a move from car use to public transport which will support sustainable travel objectives.”
Craigie added that ZetTrans will be working with Transport Scotland to monitor usage through the ticket machine data.
“I anticipate that we will be using additional methods, i.e. qualitative measures such as surveys, to gather data on opinions and impacts that will support the ticket data.”
Outside of Lerwick, only two fares in Shetland are below £2 at the moment – Lerwick to Gulberwick, which is £1.40, and Lerwick to Scalloway (£1.80).
After that there is Lerwick to Hamnavoe (£2), Toogs (£2.30), Sandwick (£2.30) and Weisdale (£2.30).
The highest mainland fare is Lerwick to North Roe at £3.80, while the largest fare overall is to Cullivoe in Yell (£4.40), which includes a trip on the ferry from Toft.
People aged under 22 and folk over 60 can travel for free on buses, as well as people who meet a disability criteria.
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