Highland Council will be running a pilot project to expand its in-house school transport provision.
A trial will be launched to deliver more in-house school transport routes using buses with ultra-low emission engines.
Six of the buses have been delivered with a further six expected to arrive in mid-November. The buses are diesel-fuelled.
The pilot will begin in January 2023 and the routes initially covered will be across rural Inverness, the Black Isle, Loch Ness-side and Nairn.
Chairman of the council’s economy and infrastructure committee, Ken Gowans said: “Highland Council already delivers in-house school transport so I’m delighted this pilot will be expanding on what we already have in place.
“It is great to see us taking the initiative. It means we can avoid being exposed to excessive costs from the commercial sector and the ultra-low emission engines the buses have will benefit the environment.
“This is a huge step forward for us, ultimately so we can provide cost-effective and reliable transport for our public services as well as school pupils across the Highlands.”
The Volvo buses are currently parked at the council’s Glenurquhart Road headquarters. It is understood six double decker buses are also due to arrive in coming weeks.
Bus services can be run by local authorities
Council papers show that at its last full meeting on September 22, during an agenda item heard in private, the award of contracts for school and public services were discussed.
The council is also advertising for a bus operations supervisor.
Local authorities were encouraged to apply to the Bus Partnership Fund and were given permission to run a bus service.
Transport Minister @jennygilruth welcomed the opportunity to meet with the @HighlandCouncil in Inverness today.
She was pleased to hear the progress in developing bus priority measures funded by £2.9m from the Transport Scotland #BusPartnershipFund 🚍 pic.twitter.com/m4veFv2oUP
— Transport Scotland (@transcotland) October 12, 2022
This came after a change in legislation, announced on June 22, that previously precluded any local authority from running its own service.
The buses were registered on October 10 with DVLA.
It is understood the funding was part of a package from Transport Scotland amounting to £2.9million.
Transport Scotland said Highland Council met with transport minister Jenny Gilruth this week.
A statement on its social media said: “Transport minister Jenny Gilruth welcomed the opportunity to meet with Highland Council in Inverness today.
“She was pleased to hear the progress in developing bus priority measures funded by £2.9m from the Transport Scotland bus partnership fund.”
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