LABOUR has printed 250,000 postcards as part of its campaign to make bus services a major issue in May's local government elections.
The party, which launched its election push yesterday, urges the SNP Government to change tack on public transport in Scotland, reverse cuts to bus support, and re-regulate bus firms.
It comes days after First Group announced 200 potential redundancies in the Lothians. Labour says Glasgow fares have increased by 28% and more than 20 routes are being cut or scaled back, while passengers in other towns and cities across Scotland also face cuts.
The party claims the primary reason is a 17% cut to the Bus Operators' Grant coupled with a controversial change in the way the grants are awarded to companies.
Previously, companies were supported for each gallon of diesel used, but now will be compensated for each mile driven. Labour believes urban routes with short distances but heavy traffic will be hardest hit.
Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont said: "Bus companies provide a public service and one that is vital to communities across Scotland. We need a funding system that is fair and transparent, but people across the country face their local bus being axed.
"Ministers don't seem to understand that people rely on buses to get to work, go shopping and visit friends. For many, buses are a lifeline which they cannot do without."
She added: "The SNP's decision to cut the grant by 17% is unacceptable, reckless and has led directly to the cuts and chaos we see across Scotland.
"The cut should be reversed and the SNP should agree to Labour's plan to regulate buses. Regulation might not suit their party's largest donor, but it certainly suits the travelling public. Every day that goes by, the more it looks the SNP have forgotten whose side they are meant to be on."
Labour Transport spokesman Richard Baker, said: "The rise in fuel prices is hitting every motorist, which makes the SNP's decision to move away from a system of subsidising buses for the diesel used even more peculiar. The disproportionate cut to the Bus Operator's Grant is the straw that broke the camel's back."
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