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Highland Council in-house bus service to begin in new year

Highland Council has deleted the post. Image: Sandy McCook/ DC Thomson.
Highland Council has deleted the post. Image: Sandy McCook/ DC Thomson.

Highland Council is planning to operate its own bus service from January.

Services will be run to and from schools, with Millburn Academy expected to be among the first to have the new service.

After school services have settled in, it is then hoped that a public bus service can be run by the local authority.

There will be 12 buses, including six double-deckers, in the first instance with one further bus being used as a spare.

Bus drivers yet to be appointed

The service will be managed from a base on Cromwell Road in Inverness which the council has leased to be the operational centre for the in-house bus operation.

Three bus project officers have been recruited, and a bus operations supervisor appointed.

Council papers show that bus drivers are yet to be appointed, and that TUPE negotiations have started with the current provider Stagecoach to bring drivers into the council’s service.

Bus drivers employed by the council will be taken into the authority’s pension scheme and will have the same terms and conditions of other council employees.

Highland Council has purchased six low-emission single-decker buses with six more expected to follow.

The local authority plans to reduce its overall transport costs by operating its own service. The provision of home-to-school transport meets a requirement of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980.

Around £1.4 million is expected to be saved for the initial batch of contracts taken in-house.

It also fulfils the council’s duty under the Transport Act 1985 to secure a service that would otherwise not be met in the Highlands and islands.

The pilot bus services have been registered and approved by the Traffic Commissioner.

A Highland Council spokeswoman said: “Members of The Highland Council’s redesign board were given a progress report on plans for the council to launch its in-house bus company on January 4, 2023.

“The council has invested in 12 buses, including six double-deckers to deliver passenger and school transport services at a lower cost than commercial contractors.

“The other project, which is also part of the council’s business change programme, is to carry out a review of school transport arrangements, including the procurement of specialist transport management software.”

Bus service will give increased flexibility

Chairman of the council’s economy and infrastructure committee, Ken Gowans said: “Our ambitious in-house bus company will mitigate some of the significant cost increases following the recent re-tendering of passenger and school transport contracts.

“It will also allow us the flexibility for an improved and more inclusive service.

He added: “The new service will be supported by specialist transport management software. This will not only help us streamline the expansion of our bus services, but it will ensure every possible efficiency saving is made.

“It was good to get the update today to confirm real progress is being made and I for one cannot wait to see the new buses out on the routes in January.”

The update today also highlighted that although there was not enough time for the use of electric buses to be fully explored, officers intend to submit a bid next spring to Transport Scotland’s Scottish zero-emission bus challenge fund.

Earlier this month, D&E took on the temporary running of the Millburn Academy service after Stagecoach withdrew due to driver shortages.

However, just two days after the service a brand new coach was vandalised.

CCTV footage of the incidents was passed to the school, which said it was working with the police.

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