8. To ask the Scottish Government how the Scottish zero emission bus challenge fund is supporting change in the bus sector, in light of Scotland’s net zero ambitions. (S6O-02283)

Last week, while visiting Alexander Dennis in Larbert, I launched the second and final phase of the challenge fund. The Scottish Government is offering up to £58 million to transform the market for zero-emission buses, on top of the previous investment of more than £113 million in zero-emission buses.

It is clear that the market is now at a pivotal point, and the money that I am offering the sector could make the zero-emission bus market self-sustaining, enabling bus and coach operators of all types and sizes to achieve zero-emissions over the coming years.

Bus transport is crucial to many of our communities, and services such as the recently reintroduced Citylink 902 service provide a vital link in my constituency to city centres. Initiatives such as ScotZEB and the transformational under-22 bus pass will be crucial to ensuring that Scotland’s bus sector is at the heart of the modal shift that we need to see away from cars as we strive for net zero. What level of support has the Scottish Government already provided via ScotZEB, and how many buses has that provided?

I should note the campaigning efforts of Fulton

McGregor and Neil Gray on the Citylink 902 service.

The Government awarded £62 million through the first phase of ScotZEB, helping operators acquire 276 battery electric buses and the associated charging infrastructure. That is over and above the £52 million of capital investment that we have put in previously, plus a resource commitment worth up to £20 million that we provided through our previous fund to support 272 battery electric buses.

We are helping the bus sector to decarbonise, and we are encouraging more people to choose to take the bus and to take fewer journeys by car. Alongside that, we have seen more than 62 million free bus journeys made by young people across Scotland since the introduction of our young persons free bus travel scheme. That is all good news for the people of Scotland.