The Scottish government has announced it is providing £10m to support the rapid deployment of temporary bus priority infrastructure by local authorities.
Officials said the new infrastructure fund will help areas of Scotland with the highest concentration of congestion to implement temporary measures, including ‘pop-up’ bus lanes or gates, to make bus journeys quicker and more reliable for passengers.
The announcement follows similar moves for temporary active travel infrastructure such as cycle lanes and is designed to support to uptake of sustainable transport post-coronavirus.
Alongside this, Scottish ministers announced that the £8.8m Bus Emissions Abatement Retrofit scheme, which aims to help bus and coach operators reduce harmful emissions through exhaust retrofitting of mid-life buses, now has improved grant thresholds over earlier rounds of funding.
The funding will enable up to 500 mid-life buses to become Euro VI compliant in 2020-21 through the installation of accredited retrofit technology. The scheme offers a provision of up to 95% grant funding toward the capital costs of a combination of accredited retrofit exhaust abatement retrofit technology over a five-year period.
Michael Matheson, cabinet secretary for transport, infrastructure and connectivity, said: “By providing this support for bus priority infrastructure, we’re directly helping bus passengers who we know typically have fewer alternative travel options – helping to improve journey times on congested routes.
“With capacity on buses reduced due to physical distancing, it’s important we leave space for those that need it most. While this step will make bus journey times faster on pinch points, I would continue to ask people to work from home and stay local if they can. Walk, wheel or cycle where possible and plan ahead if using public transport to help manage demand. Lets continue thinking about how and when we travel so that we can keep Scotland moving.”
