Sign the petition to bring Grampian buses back under public ownership

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For too long, private bus companies in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire have been leaving people in the lurch with their late running, expensive and unsafe buses. As long as the bus system is run by companies who put profit above people, we can’t expect meaningful change. 

A publicly controlled bus network is the only way to achieve long-lasting change for our buses – to a system that is run in the interests of the local people who use the bus. 

Now is your chance to take action for a reliable, publicly-owned and affordable bus network which is run in the interests of workers, community and the environment. 

 Sign our petition to Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire council leaders – full text below. 

Dear Council Leaders in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, 

It is time to bring our buses back into public hands.  

We demand that Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Council take action to bring buses back into public ownership in Grampian by using their powers under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019. 

Buses are a lifeline public service. Instead of reliable, accessible, affordable public buses we are met with cuts, sparse timetables and curfews, rising fares and unreliability. Our region has seen a 26% fall in bus service provision (represented by bus kilometres) in the one year alone while Aberdeenshire forks out some of the highest figures nationally subsidising private operators. 

Private operators like First and Stagecoach are making millions from a bus network that's designed to make a profit, not serve passengers. They have shown they cannot be trusted to deliver for communities. 

Privatisation has failed us. 

A publicly owned bus service is the only way to deliver a lifeline public service that works for workers, communities, and the environment.  Publicly owned Lothian Buses has shown that an alternative to decline is possible while other local authorities like Highland Council have saved millions of public money by bringing previously subsidised bus services back in house. We can do the same here.

25 signed so far. Help us get to 2000!

Will you sign?