FOI/202600509512 · FOI · partially withheld
Transport Scotland - Effect of the bus fare cap on rural railways: FOI release
Information requested
What work has been carried out on the effect of the announced £2 bus fare cap for buses in the Highlands and Islands on rural railways in the area?
What financial and pax headcount studies have been carried out?
What is the expected loss in revenue for the rail services?
Response
I enclose a copy of some of the information you requested.
The purpose of the £2 bus fare cap pilot in the Highlands and Islands, technically the HiTrans (Highland, Orkney, Moray, Western Isles and Argyll and Bute area (excluding Lomond and Helensburgh) plus ZetTrans (Shetland), is to test the impact on bus patronage and modal shift of such an intervention. For full details on the HiTrans area see hitrans.org.uk.
The bus fare cap pilot will cap the cost of single fare journeys within the HiTrans and Shetland area to a maximum of £2 and for journeys that start or finish outside the HiTrans area, the cap will apply only to the part within HiTrans.
The focus of analysis will be on an ex-post evaluation of the impact on bus patronage, car use and rail passengers which will be published following the conclusion of the pilot.
As part of the preparation for the evaluation, analysis was undertaken on the potential cross mode effects using the Transport Model for Scotland. See Land use and Transport Integrations in Scotland (LATIS) | National Transport and Land Use Models | Transport Scotland for details on the model itself.
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption under section s.29(1)(a) (policy formulation) of FOISA applies to that information.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in release as part of open, transparent and accountable government and to inform public debate. However, there is a greater public interest in allowing space for officials to develop and formulate ongoing modelling work to help inform future policy considerations of Ministers. Disclosure is likely to undermine the quality of this process, which would not be in the public interest.
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Correspondence Unit Email: contactus@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrew's House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exemption under section s.29(1)(a) (policy formulation) of FOISA applies to that information. This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption.
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