Bus transport from Hamilton to Glasgow

Bus transport from Hamilton to Glasgow | South Lanarkshire Council

Idea	Overhaul on buses. Thought council were going to oversee this? Going into Glasgow is a marathon from Hamilton.
Response	The provision of public transport can be complex and bus services are primarily the responsibility of private bus operators and not the council. However, as part of the council’s Priorities and Work Programme for 2022 to 2027 there is a commitment to reviewing public transport provision, promoting greater public control of the bus network, and supporting greater integration. The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 made provisions to allow Local Transport Authorities to operate bus franchises and partnerships. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) may, with assistance from the council, consider such agreements with bus operators in due course once advice and resources are available to achieve this. Any requests for council-run bus services to fill gaps in the network are likely to coincide with routes that commercial operators were unable to run sustainably. Given the context and routing of bus services it is also important that the bus network is considered from a regional perspective, as the geography of the west of Scotland often results in existing or proposed bus routes crossing multiple council boundaries. The council liaises with SPT, which is working on its Regional Transport Strategy, and bus operators on a regular basis. Through these discussions, issues such as journey times, corridor enhancements and so on, are highlighted, and consideration is given to how measures could be put in place to reduce journey times. Working with these groups, projects to improve junction capacity by installing a traffic signal management system and bus priority systems have been undertaken or proposed on corridors through Hamilton to other towns such as Cambuslang and Rutherglen in towards Glasgow.

Idea

Overhaul on buses. Thought council were going to oversee this? Going into Glasgow is a marathon from Hamilton.

Response

The provision of public transport can be complex and bus services are primarily the responsibility of private bus operators and not the council. However, as part of the council’s Priorities and Work Programme for 2022 to 2027 there is a commitment to reviewing public transport provision, promoting greater public control of the bus network, and supporting greater integration.

The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 made provisions to allow Local Transport Authorities to operate bus franchises and partnerships. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) may, with assistance from the council, consider such agreements with bus operators in due course once advice and resources are available to achieve this. Any requests for council-run bus services to fill gaps in the network are likely to coincide with routes that commercial operators were unable to run sustainably. Given the context and routing of bus services it is also important that the bus network is considered from a regional perspective, as the geography of the west of Scotland often results in existing or proposed bus routes crossing multiple council boundaries.

The council liaises with SPT, which is working on its Regional Transport Strategy, and bus operators on a regular basis. Through these discussions, issues such as journey times, corridor enhancements and so on, are highlighted, and consideration is given to how measures could be put in place to reduce journey times. Working with these groups, projects to improve junction capacity by installing a traffic signal management system and bus priority systems have been undertaken or proposed on corridors through Hamilton to other towns such as Cambuslang and Rutherglen in towards Glasgow.