£3m for Scotland’s buses

Scottish Transport Minister, Keith Brown, has announced a second round of funding totalling £3m for the Bus Investment Fund (BIF) in a bid to improve Scotland’s bus services. Bus projects across the country will be able to apply for up to £500,000 over two years from the Transport Scotland Challenge Fund. The fund was set up to encourage partnership working to help improve bus services, standards and infrastructure for communities across Scotland.

Last year, 13 bus projects throughout Scotland received grants under the first round of the (BIF) totalling £4.2m. Projects ranged from the rollout of real time passenger information in West Lothian, improved infrastructure such as new travel hubs in Aberdeenshire and the development of new community transport services such as Rural Transport Solutions in Dumfries and Galloway.

Transport Minister, Keith Brown, said, ‘We set up the Bus Investment Fund in April last year. We were pleasantly surprised to receive 45 bids for a wide range of projects and were also encouraged to see the ambition, diversity and geographical spread of ideas. Following the interest shown in the first round of the Fund and the range of proposals, I am pleased to announce further funding in a bid to increase the standard of bus services and patronage across Scotland.’