Scotland demands better buses

Who owns our buses? McGill’s and Stagecoach are the main players when it comes to the ownership. Buses, employees, income and profit in the hands of a few. But does it need to be this way? 

Lothian Transport offers a different model and there are examples from elsewhere that can be drawn upon. Wednesday the 2nd of September will see campaigners meet at Holyrood to press politicians for change. 

Scotland Demands Better Buses is the slogan of those calling for a move away from a system currently aimed at maximising profit. An alliance has come together to ensure that the slogan is practically employed to produce results. 

Across Scotland, concerns and complaints about bus services are common. Irregularity, no evening or weekend services and the cutting of routes altogether cause dismay, disdain and disillusionment. The left needs to contribute to a future where the ownership of buses, of all public transport, is in public hands. 

September’s lobby of parliament can be an important part of this process. We have a long way to go to overcome the legacy of deregulation - but campaigners are making a start and they need our backing. 

Get Glasgow Moving is making progress and is pushing Transport Secretary Stephen Flynn to remove hurdles in the current Scottish legislation. Ellie Harrison of Get Glasgow Moving recently told The National, ‘our bus franchising powers in Scotland are the most complicated in the UK’. Removing those complications is something that the Scottish Government could do. 

Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) recently approved an action plan including the development of bus franchising. Removing unnecessary obstacles to enacting franchising would give a strong signal welcoming alternative forms of ownership to those that shape the service at present. 

Now is the time for campaigners in different political parties, environmentalists, passengers and trades unionists to push our government for change. Recent progress on fares is welcome but moving bus ownership out of the hands of a few would go some way to building a different kind of Scotland. 

Buses are an essential part of our lives, of how our communities function and connect. Of how we get to and from work. Join those attending from across Scotland at 1pm on the 2nd September outside Holyrood to make the message loud and clear - Scotland Demands Better Buses. 

Published 24 August 2026