Meeting of the Parliament 28 March 2018
I welcome this important debate, which brings a focus to one of the key modes in our sustainable transport mix. Given that 75 to 80 per cent of all public transport journeys are made by bus, which far outweighs the percentage for any other mode of public transport, buses probably do not get the coverage that they should get in comparison with those other modes.
I agree with John Finnie that we must urgently tackle the decline in patronage. Of course, the decline in passenger numbers is not a recent issue. I have just been looking at the numbers, and I see that the downward trend began in the 1960s. There are a range of causes for it, some of which John Finnie touched on. Some of the factors were identified in a recent KPMG study that was commissioned by CPT. It contains a long list of issues including the long-term growth in car ownership, behavioural changes related to use of the internet, and out-of-town shopping. Another major factor that all members will recognise is congestion, which is a real issue, particularly but not only in our conurbations.
My view on how to approach the patronage challenge differs slightly from John Finnie’s, although, when I look at his motion and at what I know is important to him in facing down the challenge, I see that the differences are only minor. I do not agree that a centralised, national approach would necessarily be the right way, nor do I think that a big increase in public ownership is necessarily the answer. The graph of patronage decline between 1960 and 1986, when we had deregulation, shows a decline of 1,000 million bus passengers in Scotland alone, so it is clear that public ownership in itself is not a panacea.