1. To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that public transport in rural areas has sufficient capacity to meet demand. (S5O-04396)

As we move through the phases of the Government’s route map, we need to recognise that it will not be possible to fully satisfy the demand for public transport. However, we are working with our operators with the aim of making transport provision as fair and sustainable as possible. People should consider, first, whether travel is necessary and, secondly, whether their journey could be completed by walking, wheeling or cycling. They should always consider whether public transport is the right choice for their journey, be mindful of the guidance and restrictions, plan ahead and avoid peak times.

The cabinet secretary will be aware of the transport challenges in rural areas, where active travel is a less likely option for getting to work. If my constituents do not have a car, bus and rail travel is essential. How will the cabinet secretary ensure not only that public transport routes remain open, but that there is sufficient investment to further connect rural communities?

As Brian Whittle might be aware, we have already taken decisive action to support public transport providers. We have provided funding to bus operators around the country by rolling out our provisions for concessionary travel, as well as through the bus service operators grant—BSOG—scheme. The BSOG scheme, in particular, helps to support those in rural areas, because it is allocated on a mileage basis, and bus operators normally cover longer distances in rural areas.

We are providing that financial support to bus operators to sustain the existing services, and we will continue to engage with them to look at what further measures can be taken to support them to increase services.

We also have an emergency measures agreement with rail services, which is helping to support the provision of rail services. As of Monday next week, there will be a further increase in capacity on the rail network, which will create a significant uplift in the number of seats that are available each day across the transport network. That will help to support those in rural and urban areas, and it will help to ensure that we meet as much of the demand as we can, given the constraints that public transport users will experience as a result of having to maintain a 2m physical distance.