The number of journeys made by public transport in Scotland has dropped by eight million in a year, according to new statistics.
Their publication coincides with the Budget announcement of free bus travel for everyone aged 18 and under in a bid to try and encourage more people to use more carbon-efficient transport.
READ MORE: SNP Budget deal emerges with free bus travel for 18s and under
A report released by Transport Scotland shows there were 517 million such trips in 2018-19, compared to 525m the previous year.
Meanwhile, the number of kilometres travelled by car rose by 7.7% from 33.8 billion to 36.4bn between 2013-14 and 2018-19.
Air passenger numbers rose by 26.2% over the same five-year period from 23.3m to 29.4m and were up 2.1% on the previous 12 months.
The number of passenger journeys on Scotland's railway has risen 13.3% in the past five years from 86.3m to 97.8m.
By comparison, bus passenger numbers dropped by 2.2% in one year and 9.8% over the five-year period, sitting at 380m in 2018-19.
Environmental groups said the report "paints a grim picture" of transport in Scotland and have called for more to be done in this year's budget to tackle climate change.
Cabinet Secretary for Finance Kate Forbes today reached an agreement with the Scottish Green Party to ensure passage of the Scottish Government’s budget at all stages in parliament.
The final agreement will increase support for young people, police, climate action and local government.
She said that while she had reached agreement with the Scottish Greens, the budget delivered on key issues raised by all parties in the parliament and called on all MSPs to unite behind the budget on Thursday.
Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said: "The latest statistics outline the importance of the action we are taking through our Programme for Government commitments and our spending priorities, underpinned by our longer-term vision established through the National Transport Strategy.
"Rates of people walking, cycling and taking public transport to work remain largely stable.
"We doubled the active travel budget in 2018, maintained it in 2019 and have proposed increasing it further to a record level of over £85m in the draft budget for 2020-21."
He added: "We face a global climate emergency.
"Scotland must transition to a net-zero emissions economy for the benefit of our environment, our people and our future prosperity – and through these actions and our investment we will encourage a more sustainable transport system than ever before."
Gina Hanrahan, the head of policy for WWF Scotland, said the (now published) Budget would have to present "really clear shifts" on funding to tackle climate change.
She said: "In order to get people out of their cars, and encourage them to use other modes of transport, we need greater investment in cleaner forms of transport to tackle climate change, clean up our dirty air and enhance public health.
"We need to see really clear shifts in the final budget and the Infrastructure Investment Plan to support this."
Gavin Thomson, an air pollution campaigner with Friends of the Earth Scotland, said the statistics painted a "grim picture".
He added: "Years of splurging billions on newer and bigger roads has come at a huge cost to our climate, public health and the rest of our transport system.
"The political capitulation to cars must stop in this year's budget."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel