Introduction
The transport sector is responsible for producing the highest proportion of greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland. Of these transport related emissions around 41% come from private car use. Efforts to encourage consumers to choose active and public travel methods over private car use are therefore key to meeting our climate targets.
One policy partly designed to help meet these targets is concessionary bus fares which aim to both encourage sustainable travel habits and increase the ability for people to get out and about. The fares are available to disabled people or those who are aged under 22 or over 60, meaning that more than 2 million people in Scotland can benefit from them.
At an annual cost of around £300 million, however, concessionary fares represent a significant financial cost accounting for around 21% of Scotland’s entire transport revenue budget. This has led to debate about whether spending on concessionary fares should be more targeted and about whether other transport spending should also be prioritised alongside the concessionary fares scheme.
In November 2024, Consumer Scotland published a briefing on the National Concessionary Travel Schemes focussing specifically on buses and looking at how well the aims of the schemes are met.
Cost drives consumer behaviour
Our analysis found clear benefits for those eligible for concessionary travel. The financial savings offer significant consumer benefits on their own, especially for those who rely on bus use. They have also helped people access bus travel much more freely and spontaneously, without having to consider cost, meaning access to employment, education, and social opportunities has been significantly improved for eligible consumers.
What is less clear is how much concessionary travel has encouraged a shift from private car use to bus use. We found the two main goals of concessionary bus travel - promoting sustainable transport and increasing mobility - are each achieved by supporting different groups.
Concessionary travel offers clear benefits to lower-income consumers, who are more than twice as likely not to have access to a car compared to wealthier households, making them more likely to be dependent on public transport. In contrast, higher-income consumers are more likely to have the choice between using buses or cars. Moving forwards, the reduced cost of buses through concessionary fares could be an important factor in supporting consumers to switch from cars to public transport. However, our analysis of the evidence to date suggests that to achieve this goal it is likely that concessionary fares will need to be available to consumers across different income levels.
Availability and convenience are also critical factors
Our briefing also highlighted that concessionary fares can only benefit consumers if they have access to convenient bus services. Uptake of concessionary travel – and indeed public transport in general – is lower in areas where there is less public transport provision. As bus routes in Scotland continue to decline, the effectiveness of concessionary fares as a tool to encourage more sustainable travel may also reduce. Services must be both available and affordable in comparison to car use, to encourage the use of public transport. If they are not, consumers are considerably less likely to choose sustainable public transport options.
Consumers consistently cite convenience as another factor that drives their decision making. Where possible, this means ensuring that sustainable travel methods do not take substantially longer than car journeys. The Scottish Government previously operated the Bus Partnership Fund that funded bus prioritisation schemes which helped buses to avoid congestion on the roads. An Audit Scotland report recently concluded that this investment led to positive outcomes in increasing bus use and reducing journey times.
There are public finance choices to be made around the level of public funds to be directed towards fare subsidies and towards improving the overall availability of public transport more generally to make this more accessible and convenient for more consumers.
Cuts to bus services and prioritisation projects will make buses less available and convenient as an option for consumers
While investment in concessionary fares grew, alongside the overall transport budget in the Scottish budget, investment in ‘support for bus services’ fell by around 9%. This cut will ultimately affect bus operators ability to maintain current bus services and will make it even harder for bus services to expand to serve more consumers. The Bus Partnership Fund was also formally replaced with the Bus Infrastructure Fund, which has a reduced budget.
Consumer Scotland supports the aims of the concessionary fares schemes and the benefits they bring to eligible consumers. However, we are concerned that any reduction in focus on the provision of services may have implications for access to and reliability of these services for all consumers, whether they are eligible for concessionary fares or not.
Consequently, policymakers should consider the consumer benefits that different funding allocations might offer, including the potential merits of redirecting some existing funding towards greater investment in service provision and supporting infrastructure. Making adjustments to the eligibility criteria for concessions, or to the level of subsidy available, could release funds for things such as bus prioritisation measures or new or improved services. This could improve the quality of bus services overall, for all consumers, including those eligible for concessionary fares. Doing so could encourage a shift towards public transport use by reducing barriers to access for more consumers.
Such measures will be the subject of further consideration as the Scottish Government consults on the recently published Just Transition Plan for the transport sector. Consumer Scotland will be engaging with this process, responding to the Plan and working with other stakeholders across the sector in order to help secure positive outcomes for transport consumers in Scotland.