SPT has spent £125m on Glasgow since 2017 - including upgrades to Buchanan Bus Station and the subway

The report, ‘SPT: Delivering for Glasgow’, shows £6.1 million of capital funding was awarded to support a range of sustainable transport projects in the area between 2017 and 2021.

Almost £1 million of additional money was also awarded to Glasgow City Council in 2021/22 to support their delivery.

What other funds have been spent?

A further £118 million has been spent directly by SPT on projects across the city including subway modernisation, Partick Interchange improvements and the upgrade of Buchanan Bus Station.

The capital investment included £1.7 million in support of the council’s Bus Stops Improvements project in the city’s busiest areas around Hope Street and Renfield Street.

Since 2017, SPT has invested £5.7 million to help the local authority deliver a series of targeted bus improvements, which has resulted in new and upgraded bus shelters, raised kerbs to allow those with mobility issues to board buses more easily, and real time passenger information displays.

SPT has also provided £490,000 to support the roll out of Traffic Light Priority technology which offers greater journey time reliability for buses by allocating additional ‘green phase’ signal time for approaching services.

A further £621,000 has helped deliver bus termini and layover facilities across the city, and £125,000 has been provided to support the council in the delivery of active travel measures as it aims to reach climate targets.

SPT also maintained 2,824 bus stops and 821 shelters in Glasgow, and carried 2,700 children to school every day.

What does SPT do?

Glasgow is one of is one of 12 council areas to benefit from funding provided by SPT, which also covers East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, West Dunbartonshire and the Helensburgh and Lomond area of Argyll and Bute.

The transport body pointed out that the cross-council boundary nature of transport and travel means investment in one area will benefit all residents who travel for work or leisure.

Across the west of Scotland, SPT has supported 6.1 million bus station departures across Buchanan, Hamilton, East Kilbride, Greenock, Braehead and Silverburn in recent years.

It has sold 515,000 ZoneCard tickets since 2017/18 across the Subway and participating rail and bus operators, and 43.7 million Subway journeys have been taken since 2017.

It has supported 200 bus services run by around 20 operators on behalf of SPT, and has 33 MyBus services operating in the west of Scotland.

What is SPT saying?

Valerie Davidson, chief executive of SPT, said: “We continue to deliver a range of services in Glasgow and across the region either directly or on behalf of councils. As this report shows, we have invested more than £125 million over the last five years in sustainable transport projects in the area.

“SPT’s activities support the west of Scotland’s regional transport network to the benefit of all residents who travel across the area.

“While the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in significant impacts on our operational activities due to reduced travel demand, the majority of services were maintained to ensure transport remained in place for key workers and those making essential trips.”