This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Funding for rural transport projects
13/10/2005
Vital rural transport services such as schoolday buses in the Highlands and links to local stations in Dumfries and Galloway will benefit from funding announced today.
£6.3 million has been made available to local authorities throughout rural Scotland from the Executive's Rural Public Passenger Transport grant scheme.
Since the scheme began in 1998 it has funded over 400 new and enhanced public transport services in rural areas. These include off-peak bus services, new bus shelters and other transport infrastructure and enhanced ferry services.
Transport Minister Tavish Scott said:
"People living in rural areas across Scotland need to be able to access important local services such as health and leisure facilities. Good transport links are therefore vital not only to people needing to travel locally, but also to rural economies by providing access to jobs.
"This substantial new funding will improve the quality of life of people living in rural areas by giving them access to a modern and efficient public transport service."
The aim of the Rural Public Passenger Transport Grant Scheme scheme is to enable local authorities to introduce new or improved rural transport services.
£36.7million has been provided through the Scheme to date and over four hundred additional public transport services introduced, which are mainly bus services but also include a number of ferry services
Examples of services/facilities already funded throughout Scotlandinclude:
Shetland - additional commuter ferry runs on 9 ferry services
Aberdeenshire - new rural bus shelters and associated infrastructure
Highland - Kinlochleven toFort WilliamMonday to Saturday evening bus service / FortWilliam to Achnacarry schooldays bus service plus Thursday shopper service
Fife - Monday to Saturday bus service from Leven toSt Andrews via villages in theEast Neuk ofFife
South Ayrshire - Carrick Connector rural demand responsive transport service
West Lothian - flexible return trips by car6am to 11pm in 5 rural areas ofWest Lothian
Dumfries andGalloway - Friday and Sunday bus journeys from Newton Stewart to Barrhill Railway Station.
Details of allocations to local authorities for 2006/07 are:
Local authority £000
Aberdeenshire 594
Angus 223
Argyll and Bute 509
Clackmannanshire 59
Dumfries andGalloway 547
East Ayrshire 83
East Dunbartonshire 55
East Lothian 92
East Renfrewshire 54
Eilean Siar 533
Falkirk 82
Fife 163
Highland 1047
Inverclyde 51
Midlothian 71
Moray 175
North Ayrshire 109
North Lanarkshire 71
Orkney Islands 284
Perth and Kinross 295
Renfrewshire 58
Scottish Borders 285
Shetland Islands 223
South Ayrshire 139
South Lanarkshire 224
Stirling 143
West Dunbartonshire 55
West Lothian 76
TOTAL 6300