CAMPAIGNERS have called on the Scottish Government to toughen up the proposed Transport Bill to allow councils to run their own public bus networks, claiming private companies have priced out sections of society and ghettoised others by cutting routes.

Get Glasgow Moving, set up in 2016 to campaign for better public transport, is planning to protest outside the Scottish Parliament on October 3 to highlight the need for the amendment that would see “better buses for all” put into public ownership.

It claims that despite proposals to give councils more powers to work in partnership with bus companies or franchises, it stops short of providing them with the ability to run their own services, such as those provided in Edinburgh by Lothian Buses. The campaign has received backing from Friends of the Earth Scotland.

Earlier this year Get Glasgow Moving tried to deliver a petition to Glasgow City Council signed by 8000 people, many angered by fare increases of up to 40 percent introduced by First Bus in January. The petition was not accepted on a technicality because the council was conducting its own consultation at the time.

But with all day tickets now priced at £4.30 per adult and a family ticket at £9 it is argued some journeys are now cheaper by taxi. Bus companies claim that fare hikes are necessary due to fuel increases and say routes have been cut due to declining passenger numbers.

Get Glasgow Moving campaigner Ellie Harrison said the bill should aim to “rip up” Margaret Thatcher’s 1985 Transport Act, which brought in the deregulation of buses that she claimed was at the root of Glasgow’s public transport problems.

“Buses are a vital public service,” she added. “They are not a ‘market’ and should not ‘compete’ with trains, subway, trams or other forms of sustainable transport.”

Fellow campaigner Gavin Thomson added: “The public transport currently being provided is woeful. The public response to the campaign had been very positive. Meanwhile the Scottish Government has been cautiously receptive.”

Richard Dixon, director of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said it was “very disappointing” that despite indications from previous transport minister Humza Yousaf, there were no explicit measures in the Transport Bill to ensure buses could return to council control.

He added: “Edinburgh has Lothian Buses which is owned by the city and it’s quite clearly the best bus service in Scotland.

“It has high quality buses that are less polluting and is one of the cleanest fleets. It demonstrates that you can be in charge [as a council] and run a really good bus service. We would really have liked to see this power in the Transport Bill.”

In written submissions on the Transport Bill consultation Stirling and East Dunbartonshire councils also claimed the proposed legislation would prevent them from running their own bus companies.

However Greg Mackay, deputy director of the Transport Scotland funded Bus Users Scotland – which has been invited to give evidence to on the bill at the Scottish Parliament next month – claimed that bus ownership was not a key issue.

“We hear this debate about ownership quite frequently,” he said. “At the end of the day what matters is not who owns the bus. It’s about the passengers.”

Councillor Anna Richardson, Glasgow City Council convener for sustainability and carbon reduction said it supported measures “that will enable us to improve Glasgow’s public transport network and connectivity in our city.”

The Scottish Government said it was continuing to spend over £250 million a year on subsidising buses.

A Transport Scotland spokesperson added: “The Transport (Scotland) Bill will support local authorities to meet local needs, whether they wish to pursue partnership working, local franchising, or running their own buses where appropriate.’’