Public ownership for better buses

Like a lot of people, buses are essential for me to get around day to day.

- BY WEST SCOTLAND MSP ROSS GREER

Everyone should have access to affordable and reliable public transport, but Scotland is being failed by an overpriced and fragmented private bus network.

Buses were privatised by Thatcher four decades ago, resulting in us now having to pay twice - once for a ticket on the bus itself, but then again through taxes to subsidise the essential services that private bus companies are not otherwise interested in running in our communities.

Last week the Scottish Greens led a debate in parliament where we called for a high quality publicly-owned bus service for Strathclyde.

In the West of Scotland you can see the problems of fragmented and privatised bus services very clearly.