THE Scottish Government should consider extending the £2 bus fare cap to trams to avoid an “adverse impact” on Edinburgh’s public transport network, the chief executive of Lothian Buses has said.
Sarah Boyd, who leads both Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Trams, told The National that careful planning would be needed to ensure there is no “unintended consequence” from the Scottish Government’s bus fare cap policy.
Before the 2026 Holyrood election, First Minister John Swinney said that a new SNP government would cap the cost of bus journeys at £2 across all of Scotland. The policy was piloted in the Highlands and Islands, and is due for a second test scheme in the Greater Glasgow area.
Boyd said that as one of the policy’s key aims is to get more people using public transport, it should be remembered that “Edinburgh's not at the same starting point”.
“We have 36% of Scotland's bus passenger journeys,” she said.
“If what we're saying is we're trying to make Scotland world-class, then I don't necessarily think there's a one-size-fits-all approach.
“The pan-Scotland, bus-only approach, I think if you take that and apply it to [Edinburgh’s] perspective, not having trams included when one of the key aims is integration, one of the key succession measures is to make it easier for people to use and to access.
“We know that when we launched contactless payments, for example, across both bus and tram last May, both modes grew, because we made it easier for people to use and to access.
“So actually, if bus fares are capped but tram fares are not, then that is going to have an adverse impact, if you like, on the tram network.”
“I think we have to be so careful that there's not an unintended consequence,” Boyd added.
However, the Lothians Buses chief executive stopped short of supporting extending the £2 cap to trams, saying: “Until we know exactly how this would impact on both Edinburgh Trams and Lothian Buses, until they can properly model something, I want to be really careful not to be saying anything supportive or not supportive, because at this stage, I don't know the answer.
“I know that my job is to make sure that Edinburgh and the network thrives, that I leave it better than I find it.”
Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Trams raised the fee for a single journey in February from £2.20 to £2.40, so a £2 cap could make a “big difference” to the firm’s revenue, Boyd said.
However, she went on: “It depends on what the reimbursement rate would be, and again that's something that is just at very early stages.
“We don't have all the facts in front of us yet.
“There are still questions around what's included, what's not. For example, things like night buses, express bus buses, airport services.
“Until you know what a reimbursement model would look like, it's not possible to calculate what that would then total up to.”
The SNP previously suggested that operators would be given the difference between the £2 cap and the actual price of the ticket.
Boyd said that any model would have to have mechanisms to prevent the public purse being overcharged, but also to balance fairness for business.
“There has to be a mechanism in place to recognise things like inflation; operators face considerable cost pressures around wages, fuel,” she said.
“The other thing is that, as a whole, the Edinburgh network is growing already. So you would have to work out – reverse engineer almost – what growth you would have achieved anyway in these areas and what is the additional, hopefully, that could be attributed to a fare cap.”
While the details of the scheme remain at the early stages, the Scottish Greens have said called on the Government to “urgently accelerate the roll-out of the £2 bus fare cap across Scotland”.
Party co-leader Gillian Mackay questioned why there was not yet a timeline in place for the Strathclyde pilot, or the national roll-out.
“The £2 bus fare cap has been a game-changer for thousands of people across the Highlands and Islands, helping families and regular travellers to cut the cost of getting around, reducing emissions and keeping more money in people’s pockets,” Mackay said.
“It has shown what is possible when we put affordable, accessible public transport at the heart of our policies. But progress has now stalled, and the Scottish Government is dragging its feet on extending the scheme.
“The Scottish Government must set out a clear timetable and get on with rolling out the £2 fare cap across the country.”
The Scottish Government was approached for comment.
