The Edinburgh Reporter met with Scottish Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie and transport spokesperson Sarah Beattie-Smith this morning outside Edinburgh Bus Station.
They are demanding that Patrick’s Better Buses campaign is now taken forward to the next session of parliament. Patrick presses ministers for action on buses during the fourth session at Holyrood and is not letting up in the campaign to get re-elected for the fifth session.
Patrick said: “My Better Buses campaign showed how seriously Greens take the need for reform to our bus services. The SNP has ploughed extra millions into new motorways and dual carriageways while commuters and rural residents without access to a car are left behind.
“Regulations should include a minimum level of service guarantee. We need more electric or hybrid buses to reduce the air pollution harming public health, and we need a renovation programme for bus stations to make them attractive public spaces.
“Green MSPs will support campaigns to extend the free bus pass to unpaid carers and we want to see more support for community transport schemes.”
Sarah has run a similar campaign in the south of Scotland where there are proposed cuts to bus services in Dumfries and Galloway.
She said: “Too many people are underserved by local bus routes. Scottish Greens support re-regulation of buses to stop companies cherry-picking profitable routes and leaving communities stranded.
“This is a fundamental issue in the South of Scotland where lack of interest in high quality public transport from successive Labour and SNP-led governments has left many people cut off from work, education and social opportunities, and has made access to healthcare and hospital visits difficult. As someone who lives in the South I know first-hand the urgency of the situation, and I look forward to a bigger group of Green MSPs pushing for bold action.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
