Today the Council’s Enterprise, Planning & Infrastructure Committee failed to support a joint motion by Kingswells/Sheddocksley Councillor Steve Delaney and two of his colleagues calling for guaranteed minimum frequencies in areas where one bus company has an effective monopoly.

The motion under consideration read as follows:-

“That this Council agrees to write to the Scottish and UK Governments and Aberdeen’s MSPs and MPs calling for a change in the regulatory regime for bus operators providing scheduled public services to introduce a ‘public service obligation’ which would require any bus operator providing more than 50% of the bus services in a particular local authority area to provide a basic level of bus service (including in evenings and at weekends) to communities across that local authority area”.

Mr Delaney, who has been campaigning for better bus services for the past four years, reminded Committee that bus companies received funding through the Bus Service Operators’ Grant and the National Concession Scheme. He felt it was only fair to expect a minimum level of service from a company which was in receipt of public funds.

He said, “We merely seek to redress the balance between commercial activity and public service by asking the Scottish Parliament to introduce minimum frequencies in areas where there’s no competition. Where those citizens are indirectly subsidising those same bus companies, it would only seem fair by way of ensuring value for the public pound. I would argue it’s about putting the “public” back into “public transport”.

Mr Delaney spoke of his bitter disappointment following the debate. He said, “Where there is competition, it works. Where there is none, service is entirely driven by profitability and this inevitably results in very poor services on the less profitable routes. We have a divided city in terms of bus services and that’s what our motion had sought to address in a fair and measured manner”.