Calling on candidates for public office in the May 2026 election to pledge support for free public transport
Fare Free London have initiated a campaign to get candidates for parliamentary or local government office in the local government elections to commit to campaigning for free public transport.
Lothian Bus image by GreenAvGeek CC BY-SA 4.0
Calls to widen the provision of free public transport have been growing over the last few years. Buses are already free for pensioners across the UK, and for under-22s in Scotland and Wales; London residents who are 60+ travel free on the tube and trains too.
The House of Commons transport committee called in August last year for free bus travel to be extended to under-22s in England.
Glasgow City Council, acting on a recommendation of the Scottish Just Transition Commission, in 2024 published a report on how free public transport could be implemented in the city, and will run a pilot scheme this year under which 1000 residents between the ages of 22 and 59 will travel free for six weeks.
Outside the UK, free transport schemes are widespread. Public transport is free for residents in European cities including the capitals of Estonia and Serbia; Montpellier and Dunkerque inFrance; Kriviy Rih in Ukraine; and the whole of Luxemburg. No less than 130 municipalities in Brazil have free public transport, as do Kansas City, Albuquerque and other cities in the US.
If you are a candidate for a Scottish constituency or on a regional list please add your name to the form here.
If you support this campaign please ask candidates in your area to sign up. You can use this QR code or share this link to the form.
They are due to announce their decision on Friday 15 March. GGM is doing everything they can to ramp up the pressure on SPT Board members before then, including delivering the petition to them on Friday 23 February, 9:30am ahead of their Board meeting.
Good quality, affordable public transport is a key part of an energy transition. Here’s an excellent new video from Get Glasgow Moving that makes the case for reversing privatisation.
There will be a protest on Tuesday 8th June at 12 noon in George Square against Glasgow City Council’s stealthy collusion with the Scottish Government in a last-ditch attempt to block the introduction of a new free bus service across Greater Glasgow – for details see this post.
Free, decarbonised, integrated, Covid-safe, publicly owned, worker-and-user-controlled public transport is the most immediately possible and effective way to address all elements of the current crisis – climate, Covid, poverty, exclusion, inequality.
The time and date of the protest have been timed to coincide with a critical Council meeting on its Climate Emergency Implementation Plan
Please turn up and spread the word. Wear masks and observe social distancing.
Thanks to Friends of the Earth Scotland for sharing this information. The skills of the workforce at Alexander Dennis and the production facilities are vital for the transition to a zero carbon economy.
Background Despite the Scottish Government’s fine rhetoric on climate action and just transition, hundreds of workers are currently at risk of redundancy at Alexander Dennis (ADL), the Falkirk-based manufacturer of high-performance hybrid buses. Unite the Union has found evidence that despite the claims of ADL, these job cuts were planned before the health crisis as part of a restructure strategy. Like the still under threat BiFab offshore platform fabrication yards in Fife, Alexander Dennis should be at the forefront of the just transition to a zero carbon economy, not struggling for survival.
Why your help is needed Environmentalists and climate change campaigners can stand in solidarity with workers fighting to save their jobs – jobs that are vital to the green economy and protecting livelihoods.
Please support the @UniteScotland and @UniteADL campaign on social media, and call for MSPs to sign motion S5M-22467 in the Scottish Parliament. The text of the motion is below, along with links to suggested tweets to share and tweets to send directly to MSPs.
A demonstration of solidarity like this from environmentalists and climate change campaigners with workers and trade unionists will help build stronger alliances and a broader movement for climate action. Please take action today!
Scottish Parliament Motion
Motion S5M-22467: Richard Leonard, Central Scotland, Scottish Labour, Date Lodged: 19/08/2020 R
That the Parliament recognises and affirms its support for the importance of engineering and manufacturing to the Scottish economy; considers that the sector will play a crucial role in a just transition to a cleaner and greener economy; expresses its concern at the announcement by Alexander Dennis Limited, a world leading bus manufacturer, that a significant number of jobs throughout its UK operations are at risk, including at sites in Falkirk and Larbert; recognises the serious impact that this would have on thousands of workers, and calls on the Scottish Government to offer every assistance to support the company and its skilled workforce and to work with it and the trade unions to ensure that it has an important future in supporting the development of a clean and green public transport infrastructure for communities across Scotland and further afield.
Tweets to retweet If you’re short on time, please retweet these focused at UK & Scot Govs
If @NicolaSturgeon wants a cleaner, greener future then jobs like @ADLbus will be crucial to making this a success.
Bus manufacturing is essential to the green economy – Alexander Dennis should be thriving & at forefront of#JustTransition to zero carbon, not struggling for survival.
Bus manufacturing is essential to the green economy – Alexander Dennis should be thriving & at forefront of#JustTransition to zero carbon, not struggling for survival.
The decision by the Scottish Government to extend free bus travel to under 19 year olds is a small but positive step. However, the latest Transport for Scotland Report published yesterday (27th February 2020) shows that the number of bus journeys undertaken is continuing to fall while car usage is rising. The steepest fall in bus use is in the Highlands and Islands while the decline is least in South East Scotland. The data in the report doesn’t break down regions by public transport provider but the relatively small decline in the South East is almost certainly a result of increased numbers using publicly run Lothian Buses.
In 2107 transport accounted for 36.8% of Scotland’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Cars were the biggest contributor accounting for almost 40% of the total. Cutting the use of polluting car transport is a critical part of shifting to a zero carbon future. Simply replacing petrol and diesel by electric would put huge pressure on natural resources that are in short supply and whose extraction causes major environmental damage. The answer must surely be a comprehensive, flexible and well connected public transport system that has electric buses as a key component and is free to users. There is good evidence that low or free fares results in a massive increase in public transport use.
Employment, Energy and Environment 
