| Planning and Trans-portation convener, Councillor Fiona Grant, claims use of buses in Dundee is on the rise and the quality of service has improved.
The Executive estimates, in a report published today, seven million fewer bus journeys were taken in Tayside last year than in 1993-4. Three million fewer bus trips have been taken in the last three years.
Tayside has outstripped the national drop in bus journeys taken, which has decreased in Scotland by 15% over the last 10 years.
Just one in ten adults (11%) in Tayside uses a bus to get to work, compared to 63% who use a car.
And 60% of people in Tayside who do not go to work by bus say they can’t use public transport to get to their job.
Councillor Grant said, “The council has attracted more than £14 million to Dundee over the past few years to improve public transport in the city.
“Scottish Executive funding is making a real difference to bus travel in Dundee, with initiatives such as CCTV on buses, interactive journey planner kiosks, upgraded shelters and improved facilities at Ninewells Hospital. These all help to encourage more people to use buses instead of cars.
“Dundee is recording one of the highest increases in the use of public transport over the last couple of years, with a growth rate of 6%.”
The number of bus journeys in Fife is down from 36 million in 1993-4 to 28 million in 2003-4, a drop of 22%. In Fife, just 9% of people use a bus to get to work.
More encouraging figures show that 86% of people in Tayside and 93% of people in Fife can walk to their nearest bus stop within six minutes. |
