We’ve all been there - the bus is late, there’s a queue of 20 people, it’s raining. Once we’re on, the bus crawls through town, constantly stuck in traffic. Despite the poor quality of service, with buses 20% slower than they were 20 years ago, Glasgow’s bus tickets are among the most expensive in the UK. In Edinburgh, London, and across Europe the buses are cleaner, more reliable, and cheaper. Glasgow and the rest of Strathclyde region can and should have buses as good as any in Europe, but right now the buses are run for profit, not to provide the service citizens want.
Buses in Strathclyde used to be owned by the council but were sold off in 1986. Today the bus system is splintered into 40 different companies, making coordination almost impossible. Despite this, over half of bus company income comes directly from the government. Most of that government subsidy rightly pays for free tickets for pensioners, disabled people, and young people - but bus company owners get to skim off the top. Ten pence in every pound of bus revenue is profit, and in Strathclyde that profit goes into the pockets of shareholders.
Edinburgh and nearby councils managed to keep ownership of Lothian Buses, and their service is cheaper and more reliable as a result. Lothian Buses returns its profits to councils, or spends it on improvements. This is called public ownership, or sometimes municipal ownership.
London’s buses are owned by private companies, but unlike in Glasgow they are regulated through what is called a franchising system. Transport For London, a government body, chooses the routes and sets the fares. The same tickets work on all London buses, and they are all painted the same colour. Although private companies are making a profit, the system is much better-organised and they can’t just set whatever price they like.
To fully bring the buses into public ownership, we need a franchising system here.
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), which brings together the 12 councils of Strathclyde Region, is working to bring in bus franchising in Glasgow despite fierce opposition from the bus companies. The Scottish Parliament passed a law to allow bus franchising back in 2019, but the Scottish Government shamefully delayed implementing it, and SPT have only been able to begin the process recently. Worse, the Scottish Government has made the process long and complicated, taking up to seven years. We could be well into the 2030s before any action is taken.
In the meantime, Greater Manchester has implemented franchising and bought the private bus companies, creating the hugely popular Bee Network of black-and-yellow buses. Liverpool expects to begin in 2026, and Yorkshire in 2027. Thanks to the delays and the complicated process, Scottish councils are being left behind.
Scottish councils do have some options to push forwards without the government’s help. Although SPT are putting off any decision about public ownership until later in the franchising process, their own report says that “Local transport authorities should consider the formation of a municipally-owned bus operator… where competition… is weak.” In other words, SPT or any of the SPT member councils could create a small publicly owned bus company today, as long as it isn’t expecting to turn a profit competing with the private companies. This council-owned bus company could secure Scottish Government funding for electric buses, which is currently being used to buy buses for First Bus. It would allow SPT to build experience managing urban bus routes again, and could be expanded over time.
There is a convenient new source of funding: Glasgow is just about to introduce a tax on hotel rooms called a “visitor levy,” which will raise about £16m a year. There is an obvious gap: Glasgow only has a handful of bus lines after midnight they only run on Fridays and Saturdays, they’re only hourly, and a single ticket is £4.75 (First) or £5.50 (McGills). When the bus comes once an hour, you never get in the habit of using it, and if it’s over £5 a ticket you won’t want to.
A regular, affordable, 7-day night bus might not make a profit, but the benefits to the city would be huge. It would be easier and cheaper for people to access night life on weekdays. City centre hospitality staff could take the bus home. It’s an example of how what citizens want from the transport system and what is profitable can be hugely different things.
That’s why Living Rent are calling for the Visitor Levy to be used to fund a bus company that fixes Glasgow’s night buses.
