Council should consider free bus travel for all, councillor says

Robbie McGregor

Shetland south councillor Robbie McGregor has asked if the SIC could consider offering free bus travel to all passengers, at a meeting of the council’s ZetTrans committee.

Mr McGregor said the matter was one that was “very close to his heart”.

SIC transport manager Michael Craigie told Mr McGregor a report would be coming before councillors later this year which would look into fares across all public transport.

That report would explore all considerations, he added, but would present the “clear financial realities” of such a move.

In short, Mr Craigie said his response would be, “yes, we will be looking into that”.

The committee heard that the council had lost out on over £260,000 in income from bus travel between April and June, as lockdown restrictions restricted all but essential travel.

The overall impact for ZetTrans was they would need an additional £232,000 from the council just to balance the books.