A veteran Labour West Lothian councillor has called on John Swinney, the First Minister to make the same “forever” commitment to buses as he did last week on cheap rail fares.
The council’s Executive heard details of £240,000 one-off funding to improve bus stop infrastructure across the county.
Linlithgow’s Tom Conn said passengers needed the confidence of ongoing funding of the bus services, adding “it would be great if we could get forever funding to develop the bus network.”
Nicola Gill, the council’s public transport manager, revealed details of the allocated spending under the new Bus Infrastructure Fund. Tier 1 funding has been directly allocated to local authorities. West Lothian’s share is £241,000.
Tier 2 funding is on an application only basis.
A report to the council’s Executive said that a list of improvement schemes suitable under tier 1 funding rules has been collated using existing accessibility and infrastructure improvement request lists.
And an application for tier 2 funding has been submitted by the West Lothian Bus Alliance to recommence projects previously active under the Bus Partnership Fund.
The Executive approved around 30 improvement projects across the county. The work ranges in costs from £35,000 for footpath improvements to bus stops in Dedridge, Livingston, to an average of around £5,000 per job on schemes in other wards around West Lothian.
The work includes bus shelter renewal, footpath improvements and improved access such as dropped kerbs and handrails at the county’s 500 bus shelters.
The tier 2 funding covers modifications of the Almondvale Avenue junction and a review of bus stop modification feasibility and designs.
Councillor Pauline Stafford, the SNP group depute leader, asked if improvements could be made to make St John’s hospital more accessible to bus users.
Her request followed news of the restoration of a service to Livingston Village. residents there still face a walk from Alderstone Road to the hospital unless they take a bus into the town centre and change for one which serves the St John’s access.
Ms Gill said she would be happy to look at potential for improvement from moving shelters closer to the hospital.
Councillor Conn asked: “Is there any indication that funding for services will be on a recurring basis?
Ms Gill confirmed there was not.
Councillor Conn said: “We need to know if more funding is forthcoming and the potential time-scales.”
Referring to First Minister John Swinney’s announcement last Monday that peak rail fares were gone for good, Councillor Conn said: “the scrapping of peak rail fares is forever. That’s a long time. It would be good if we could get bus funding forever to develop the network, not just in West Lothian, but across Scotland.
“If that kind of certainty is good enough for rail passengers, it’s good enough for bus passengers. That would help the travelling public.”
By Stuart Sommerville, Local Democracy Reporter
