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The SNP Government has been urged to speed up plans to remove free bus passes from young Scots who persistently misbehave on public transport. John Swinney announced in May that work was under way to develop a system that would strip under-22s of their entitlement following repeated bad behaviour . It came after repeated concerns were raised that the free pass scheme for youngsters has led to a rise in anti-social behaviour on vehicles and around bus stations. The flagship transport policy, backed by the SNP and Greens, is supposed to allow young Scots greater flexibility to find employment or educational opportunities. Sarah Boyd, the managing director of Lothian Buses, previously told MSPs she had heard of “horrendous” experiences facing drivers and passengers on the region’s buses. The Scottish Government last week admitted it does not have a record of the number of incidents of anti-social behaviour on buses and it was now encouraging transport firms to start collating their own data. Claire Baker, Scottish Labour transport spokeswoman, said: "We have been clear that there must be consequences for those who engage in persistent abusive behaviour towards bus drivers and passengers. "This includes removing bus passes from yobs who are found to have repeatedly carried out anti-social behaviour. "However, despite warm words from SNP ministers, we have not seen enough action to bring about the changes needed to enable this to happen. "It is also concerning that the SNP government does not appear to have a grasp on how many incidents have taken place, despite repeated warnings about the extent of the problem. "Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop must seek to expedite this process to ensure that bus drivers and passengers alike are able to travel on our buses safely and free from harassment." A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The vast majority of passengers travelling by bus travel safely and responsibly, including people of all ages using their free bus entitlement to travel. "None of this would be possible without bus drivers keeping communities connected. However, there is a minority of people, of all ages who act in a way which can result in harm to bus employees and passengers. That is simply not acceptable. "The Programme for Government prioritised consideration of suspending use of concessionary travel cards on a temporary and potentially permanent basis as a result of antisocial behaviour when using the card. "Detailed work on the timescale and best mechanism for achieving this is underway, including robust impact assessments, the development of a behaviour code and whether future primary or secondary legislation is required will be part of this process to ensure fair decision making. "We have the greatest sympathy for bus drivers who are affected by antisocial behaviour from a small minority of bus passengers. Everyone should be able to go to their work without fear of abuse." To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here
