JAMES DAY provides some highlights from the second Public Transport North conference, hosted by Buses in Edinburgh, including one of the first addresses by the country’s newly promoted transport secretary
For the second year, Buses has hosted the Public Transport Scotland conference, in partnership with Modern Railways. Once again, the event had a strong line-up of speakers from across the Scottish bus industry, representing government and major operators.
The full presentations can be viewed online, but here are some of the highlights.
Transport secretary address
Shortly before the conference, Fiona Hyslop MSP’s role as a transport minister was upgraded to transport secretary, making her the first ever dedicated cabinet secretary for transport in Scotland. So recent was the promotion, Hyslop had to leave the event after her speech to get sworn in as a cabinet secretary.
Hyslop said: “The Scottish government continues to be committed to the actions that support the bus sector playing its vital role in the day to day life of people across Scotland.
“Despite an extremely challenging financial situation, the draft Scottish budget has allocated over £429m to bus services and concessionary fares in 2024…
