Letters / The year of the bus
By the end of this year, my objective is that bus travel will be frequent, convenient and free for every Shetlander.
In 2024 we had more cars on our roads than ever. Cars are convenient, but are increasingly unaffordable to run, with folk typically paying in excess of £1,000 a year in maintenance and fuel costs.
Increasing dependence on car travel is also bad news for the planet because of the quantities of fossil fuels burned in the manufacture and operation of private vehicles.
If we are to decarbonise transport and continue to sustain our economy, we must create alternatives to the private car, and buses clearly have a huge role to play.
It is unrealistic to seek to replace all car use, but a significant reduction in car journeys is possible – indeed the Scottish Government is committed to a 20 per cent reduction in car kilometres by 2030. This might seem trivial, but in the context of increasing car use, a significant change in our transport culture is needed.
We have seen big increases in bus travel amongst young people since 2022 when the Scottish Government introduced fare-free bus travel for under 22s. To embed this positive behaviour change, politicians need to continue ratcheting up policy interventions to make bus travel more viable for more folk. The introduction of the 7pm service from Lerwick to Sumburgh back in September was a small positive step in this regard, but we cannot stand still – we need to continue pushing to improve public transport.
Shetland Islands Council’s bus network review is a major piece of work that will be concluded in late 2025. Almost 1,000 Shetlanders contributed to the public consultation, and it seems clear that there is an appetite for positive and transformative change amongst the Shetland public. My hope is that the network review will enable us to deliver a significant increase in frequency of our bus services, enabling a transformational increase in bus ridership in Shetland.
The bus network review is a complex piece of work reviewing the routing, timetabling and staffing of our bus networks. In the meantime, a relatively simple intervention could be taken: A trial of fare-free bus travel for every Shetlander.
I was disappointed that our motion to explore free bus travel came so agonisingly close to passing at December’s SIC meeting, particularly considering that there may be opportunities for this to be cost-neutral for the council.
For folk at the sharp end of the cost of living crisis, the cost of transport is a significant drain on household budgets. Making bus travel fare-free would not only be a boost for climate and the Shetland economy, but also for many folk struggling with day-to-day living costs.
Implementing a trial of fare-free bus travel seems to be a no-brainer of a policy, given the climate and cost-of-living contexts that we must contend with in the 21st century. I was unconvinced by counterarguments made by opposing councillors and I will continue to take every step possible to improve our bus network.
If anyone is still in need of a New Year’s resolution – one thing to consider could be to use public transport more: Let’s make 2025 the year of the bus!
Cllr Alex Armitage
Shetland South
Scottish Green Party
