One of the perils, amongst many, of being a politician is that – even if you do something good – you’ll never get the full credit.

Case in point being the Programme for Government announced by the First Minister earlier this month. It was bold on rhetoric, that was for sure. But light on details and on cash. We’ll keep our powder dry for now in terms of a full-scale analysis of his plans but, needless to say, it did leave a lot to be desired.

One good thing, to give him due credit, was the announcement to scrap peak fares on our railway. This must only be the start of a complete overhaul of our transport network. Trains are under public ownership in Scotland now. Good. It’s now time for buses.

Across Scotland, millions of pounds of public money are poured into our bus network each year. Yet, for too many people in too many communities, services are patchy. Routes are cut without warning. Fares are rising faster than wages. Figuratively and literally: the service simply doesn’t show up for working people.

Worst of all, it’s us that foot the bill.

Our new report: The Next Stop: The Case For Publicly Owned Buses In Scotland has shown that almost £500,000,000 of public money has been spent propping up a broken system of private bus ownership. In 2023–24, bus operators in Scotland received £439 million in public subsidy, equating to 58% of all revenue in the sector.

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