Campaigners to rally outside SPT Glasgow office in 'call to reduce fares'

Get Glasgow Moving said it is taking action in an effort to reduce fares in light of the cost-of-living crisis.

The people-led campaign is calling on SPT - a regional transport partnership - to use its powers to re-regulate bus services across Glasgow, cut and cap bus fares, and enforce a single ticket that works across all transport modes.

The rally will take place at 9am on Friday outside SPT’s office on St Vincent Street.

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Rally organiser Ellie Harrison, 43, chair of the Get Glasgow Moving committee, said: "We’re in a cost-of-living crisis and First Bus have put their fares up again in May.

“This is a massive problem for people trying to get around the region and looking at how much buses cost in other parts of the UK, it’s really unfair that Glasgow has the highest fares.

“We want a fair fare and integrated ticketing across train, bus, and subway. So, we want to put pressure on the SPT to act in the public's interest.

“There are powers that are available to them that they haven’t been using and if they don’t, what is the point in SPT?”

On Friday, Get Moving Glasgow will hand over their public petition, which went live in May, to SNP councillor Stephen Dornan.

The petition currently has more than 4500 signatures.

The rally will occur during STP’s third and final consultation meeting for the upcoming transport strategy - which will set the direction of public transport until 2037.

However, Get Moving Glasgow has stated that the transport strategy is "unambitious" and doesn’t make the "commitment" the group want to see.

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Ellie said: “What the SPT have put together is an embarrassment, and they really need to raise their game.

“It is only certain groups receiving free bus fares and transport, and that’s over 60s and under 22s, but we want everybody to be using the bus to reduce carbon admissions.

“We need to be encouraging people onto public transport, and it’s a real problem to just give free transport to certain groups. It stigmatises buses further and we want a public transport system that is so good everybody wants to use it.

“I can’t understand why the SPT can’t see how vital it is to deliver that.”

She continued: “We want to shame them into taking action and put pressure on them.

“We want the SPT to succeed, but the only way they can is if they raise their ambitions and their game and act in the public’s interest.”

Ellie stated that the Scottish Government also needs to step up its game in the face of transport prices and regulation.

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She added: "With everything else going up, you look at England [which] is capping fares, which you want to be doing now and in an energy crisis.

“This just puts the Scottish Government to shame. They need to look at this and act.

“I mean, why should somebody in Glasgow be paying more than someone in London or Edinburgh? We want action.”

Graeme Macfarlan, commercial director for First Bus Scotland, said: "In May this year, we introduced a new range of ticketing options offering customers across Glasgow greater flexibility and value when they travel by bus, creating a simpler and fairer choice of tickets that reflects today’s post-pandemic travel habits.

“We also introduced 'Tap On Tap Off' payment technology in the city to make it easier than ever before to travel by bus while offering customers the ultimate flexibility on the fare paid.

"The system allows the customer to have peace of mind that they will always receive the cheapest day or week fare for the travel they have completed. We’ve already seen almost 10% of passengers take advantage of this facility, something as a business we’ve been really encouraged by.

“Some fares were frozen at 2019 prices - such as family and airport tickets - while some fares increased by an average of 6.2%.

"We worked hard to ensure this was below the 7% consumer price inflation at the time, and well below the current 11% consumer price inflation rate.

“Overall, we have seen these fare changes help many customers save money as our new ticket offering was designed to reflect the changing travel habits following the emergence of hybrid working patterns and the end of the traditional five-day commute.

“These changes remain essential to allow us to continue to deliver services across the city for our customers.”

SPT and the Scottish Government were also contacted for comment.