Through taster sessions, maintenance classes, group rides and a bike lending library, their staff and volunteers are challenging stereotypes and breaking down barriers to give everyone access to the joy of everyday cycling – regardless of ethnicity, gender or income. “It’s helped to make Govanhill a nicer, healthier place to spend time,” she says.
Meanwhile, in the Kinross-shire village of Glenfarg, Drew and his neighbours responded to the loss of their skeleton bus service by launching their very own community-owned, non-profit bus link to Kinross and Perth. Two years on, passenger numbers have soared from 120 to well over 1,000 every single week, including free bus travel for over 60s, under 22s and disabled people. “The service has really transformed the village, because we now have a connection with the rest of the world,” he says.
All over Scotland, in our biggest cities and smallest villages, from coastal towns to remote islands, the Community Transport movement is thriving. Women on Wheels and Glenfarg Community Transport Group are just two new examples of an essential sector that’s growing, and of resilient communities that are stepping up, to plug gaps in our transport system.
We celebrated all of their achievements, and the amazing people behind them like Shgufta and Drew, during Community Transport Week 2024 between 14 and 18 October. In just its second year, but fast becoming an exciting fixture in the calendar, it is our movement’s annual UK-wide platform to spread the word about community solutions to local transport needs led by us at the Community Transport Association (CTA).
We saw local charities, community groups and social enterprises in every corner of the country seize the opportunity to hold community celebrations, launch volunteer recruitment drives, announce new services, offer fare discounts, share passenger testimonials and, of course, post aplenty on social media.
With my colleagues Nicola and Lara, together making up CTA’s Team Scotland, we travelled across 8 local authority areas to visit 12 Community Transport operators and meet with 4 MSPs from 3 different political parties.
We went for a bike ride with Patrick Harvie MSP and Women on Wheels. We jumped on board Glenfarg’s 55 bus to chat with drivers and passengers. We visited car clubs, accessible minibuses and volunteer car schemes. We saw the incredible diversity and impact of our sector up close and personal.
On our CT Week journey from Aberdeenshire to South Ayrshire, we spoke with so many people, especially those who can’t afford a car or can’t access public transport, who rely on Community Transport to access amenities, education, employment, family and friends, health and social care and public services.
Local transport which is accessible, affordable and attractive is therefore critical to so many urgent policy priorities, like boosting the economy, tackling poverty, cutting NHS waiting lists and ending climate change. There are over 14.5 million Community Transport journeys every year in the UK, adding up to a lot of social, economic and environmental value.
But there’s still more to do. There are too many communities with unmet transport needs who want to take back control of local transport. And these needs are only likely to grow with our population ageing, climate change intensifying and for-profit operators and cash-strapped councils cutting back bus services. Since 2019, Scotland has lost 32 million miles of bus services or 16% of the national network.
That’s why we’re working with lots of local groups looking to set up their own Community Transport services, large or small, and join our more than 1,300 members. Thanks to Transport Scotland funding and member subscriptions, we deliver training, offer resources and provide advice and ongoing support to help them get off the ground and deliver safe, legal and smooth journeys.
It can be extremely challenging in a competitive, complex and constrained funding environment. But, for people like Shgufta and Drew, for communities like Govanhill and Glenfarg, and for Scotland’s Community Transport movement, that won’t stop us.
David Kelly, Director for Scotland, Community Transport Association
