The Future of Glasgow’s Bus Services

That the Parliament notes Strathclyde Partnership for Transport’s (SPT) proposals to develop bus franchising arrangements for the region and its recent consultation on how to create more affordable, reliable and environmentally sustainable bus services in Strathclyde; further notes the calls for SPT to proceed with the most ambitious approach to franchising, and for the Scottish Government to work constructively with SPT to make this possible; welcomes the report from Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), The Next Stop: The Case for Publicly Owned Buses in Scotland; notes that it argues that moving local buses into public ownership would have a positive impact for local communities, allow local authorities to plan routes and cap fares, and return revenues to the public sector; understands that Scotland’s only publicly owned bus company, Lothian Buses, has returned a dividend of £36 million to its local authority shareholders over the last decade; congratulates Get Glasgow Moving on its continued campaigning work on this issue, and notes the calls for the Scottish Government to further commit to support the expansion of publicly owned bus services and deliver high quality, affordable and reliable bus services, integrated ticketing and higher standards of service across the SPT region and beyond.