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Buses - General Introduction

Most local services in Scotland are run by commercial bus companies.

There are a handful of municipal bus operators where the majority shareholding is held by local authorities in the area. These include Lothian Buses around Edinburgh. 

Scotland's major bus operators include Stagecoach, First, McGill's and XPlore Dundee.

Individual bus routes are usually run for a profit by the operators, however a local authority can subsidise a bus service if it can’t be provided commercially but is felt to be needed on social grounds.

 
Local authorities are also responsible for providing the infrastructure such as bus lanes, bus shelters and bus stops. They often also provide timetables and other travel information at stops.
 

Buses are the most commonly used form of public transport in the UK. In Scotland, there were 414 million passenger journeys on local bus services in 2014/15, a decline of 9.8% since 2009/10.  

 

‘Bus Deregulation’ throughout Britain came into force on 26 October 1986, as part of the Transport Act 1985. Except for London and Northern Ireland, any bus operator can run whatever commercial services it wants to as long as it gives 56 days notice of an introduction of a new service, withdrawal of a service or timetable changes. A separate body – the Traffic Commissioner – is tasked with ensuring that the bus operator maintains minimum safety standards for both vehicles and drivers.

 

There is no need for an operator to cross-subsidise separate bus services under deregulation. Cross-subsidy (where the profits from better paying services are used to pay for unprofitable routes) was an essential part of the previous regulated system. Despite this, operators sometimes cross-subsidise to maintain a network at all times of the day so to keep customer loyalty or so to maintain the attractiveness of their company's travelcard (one which is only valid on that operator).

 

In many towns and cities different bus companies compete for passengers on the same bus routes. Competition is something that was introduced under the 1985 Transport Act, however in many places the initial rush to compete has reduced and bus networks have become fairly stable with investment by operators in improved quality vehicles and more reliable services.   

 

In Scotland, the Government’s bus policy aims are:

  • To provide the environment for bus to act as an effective economic enabler by providing competitive, high quality public transport.

  • To enable bus to provide an effective alternative to the car by improving reliability, average bus speed and encouraging improvements to the quality of services and infrastructure.

  • To encourage investment in more efficient vehicles that produce less greenhouse gases and contribute to the targets in the Climate Change Bill (now Act).

  • To link communities, people, places of business and employment and essential services through encouraging the maintenance and development of the bus network in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is keen for bus operators and local authorities to work closely together in partnership to improve and continue to increase the use of bus services, with each party playing its respect part. Many bus operators and local authorities have formalised their working arrangements in Voluntary Quality Partnerships. Local authorities also have the powers to introduce Statutory Quality Partnerships or Quality Contracts.

 

For more details about bus policy in Scotland go to Transport ScotlandMoving into the Future: An Action Plan for Buses, the Bus Action Plan, was published as part of the National Transport Strategy in December 2006. It identified the need for Scotland-specific bus policy guidance on a series of topics, intended to promote and share best practice with a view to raising the standard of quality in the bus industry.

 

Transport Scotland sets the national policy framework on buses which is delivered by bus operators, local authorities, Regional Transport Partnerships and the regulatory authorities.Transport Scotland has published a suite of best practice guidance documents to assist in the provision of bus services.


Transport Scotland bus policy aims are:

  • To provide the environment for bus to act as an effective economic enabler by providing competitive, high quality public transport
  • To enable bus to provide an effective alternative to the car by improving reliability, average bus speed and encouraging improvements to the quality of services and infrastructure
  • To encourage investment in more efficient vehicles that produce less greenhouse gases and contribute to the targets in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009
  • To link communities, people, places of business and employment and essential services through encouraging the maintenance and development of the bus network in Scotland

The majority of bus services in Scotland are operated on a commercial basis by private bus companies. Provided that an operator registers a service with the Office of the Traffic Commissioner they can operate any route they wish to any timetable.

Local transport authorities can provide subsidy for services that are not provided on a commercial basis but this is entirely a matter for the local authority.

Changes to Bus Service Registration in Scotland


On 31 January 2016 the Public Service Vehicles (Registration of Local Services) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2015 come into force. These regulations make changes to the bus service registration regime in Scotland as follows:-

• The pre-registration period will increase from 14 to 28 days to allow bus service operators and the relevant transport authorities time for meaningful discussion on the implications of any proposed changes and to plan accordingly to minimise any disruption or seek alternative options in the run up to service changes.

• The registration period will correspondingly decrease from 56 to 42 days, preserving the overall timetable from notification to service change at 70 days

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