Major bus operators in Scotland have welcomed a move to reduce waste and save time by no longer issuing paper tickets for concessionary travel
Bus users travelling with a concessionary pass will no longer receive a paper receipt for their journey, in a change that is expected to help reduce journey times, potentially saving up to 220 minutes per day on some routes, as well as the amount of waste paper created.
Operators First Bus, McGill’s, Stagecoach, West Coast Motors and JMB Travel all made the move to no longer print concessionary tickets across their operational areas in Scotland from Monday 20 February. It is expected the boarding time for those using a Scottish National Entitlement Card will be reduced, saving a few seconds at each stop, which could aggregate to give significant time savings during the day. The move will also reduce the amount of paper used and litter seen on board bus services.
The change is taking place thanks to new software which allows bus operators to log each journey digitally, and is being brought in with agreement and endorsement from Transport Scotland. Customers will still be required to inform the driver of their destination when they board, to allow accurate recording of this information.
The amount of time saved by this move will vary by operator, by time of day and by route but operators said that it is viewed as a huge positive overall.
Graeme Macfarlan, Commercial Director for First Bus in Scotland, said: “The move towards removing paper receipts for concession journeys is one we have been wanting to make for some time. On our services alone, over 850,000 small pieces of paper are printed for receipts in Glasgow and Aberdeen each week that we have felt are unnecessary when the customer already holds a physical concessionary card. These paper receipts are unable to be recycled and therefore, making these small changes, can have a much larger impact in helping us improve journey times and reduce waste.”
McGill’s Group Service Delivery Director Colin Napier added: “This small change of removing paper receipts for concessionary passengers will have a really positive impact for all bus users. Not only will it make boarding quicker and reduce delays on our services, it’s also better for the environment which is a top priority for McGill’s Bus Group. Thanks to innovative improvements to our technology we will save hours of inefficiently sitting stationary at bus stops on our busiest routes by not printing concession receipts. We want to make our services as efficient as possible which is why we’re excited to roll this out across our entire network.”
