500 signatures reached
To: Fiona Kerr, First Glasgow Managing Director And Humza Yousaf, Transport Minister
Scrap Glasgow Bus Fare Increases, Re-regulate Buses
We demand:
1. First Bus scrap the latest fare increases, followed by an independent review of passengers to establish what are truly affordable journey prices.
2. The Scottish Government enact legislation to re-regulate bus services across Scotland. This would remove contracts from profiteers like First Bus, Stagecoach or McGill’s, and place responsibility for serving our communities with publicly owned and democratically run bus companies.
Why is this important?
Enough is Enough. The latest fare increases from First Bus to the cost of travelling in Glasgow are a hike too far.
FirstDay tickets are going from from £4.30 to £4.50 and the network-wide ticket increases 25p to £6.
A five-stop journey has gone from 95p to £1:05, to £1:15, £1:20 and now £1:40, a jump of a third in just 3 years.
The Aberdeen-based multinational reported an 80% increase in profits last year to £105.8m, so for a city struggling under the impact of austerity these hikes are hard to justify. We are calling on First to scrap these increased charges, in a recognition that the people of Glasgow cannot afford to push their profits any higher this year.
Although they have their own issues with fare increases, user surveys regularly show much higher rates of passenger satisfaction in Edinburgh than Glasgow. In the capital, instead of a private corporation the buses remain municipally owned.
It is long past time for the Scottish Government to take action against all of Scotland’s monopolistic, profiteering and in cases corrupt local bus operators. Bus re-regulation is an essential move to ensure local communities are once again served by effective, affordable, fully integrated and publicly owned transport services.
Buses were de-regulated by Margaret Thatcher in 1985, creating a corporate free-for-all. The SNP supported bus re-regulation, until in 2007 they received significant support from Stagecoach tycoon Brian Souter, and dropped the idea.
