Stagecoach has joined forces with NHS Scotland to offer discounted bus travel to all 140,000 NHS staff in Scotland, giving them a 10% discount on their travel. Employees can access the discounted tickets through a special section on the NHS Staff Benefits portal, which directly links to the Stagecoach app. The operator believes that the initiative will also help to support the Scottish Government’s climate change targets, which aim to reduce car kilometres by 20% in the next decade.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “This discount will be appreciated by the many NHS staff who commute to healthcare facilities as part of their essential work providing healthcare for local communities. I welcome this collaboration between Stagecoach and the NHS to improve sustainable travel choices for NHS staff. Buses have a valuable role to play in our public transport network as we seek to reduce the use of cars by 20% by 2030, towards our goal of becoming a net zero nation by 2045.”
Sam Greer, Regional Director for Stagecoach Scotland, said: “Buses continue to play a vital role in the economy and supporting our local communities and are vital to help deliver the Scottish Government’s environment targets and ambitions. As Scotland gets ready to host the COP26 climate change summit in November, there’s never been a more important time to help people switch from the car to more sustainable public transport and make real progress on climate change. Over recent years there have been a number of societal changes in how people work and want to spend their time, and this has been magnified in the past 12 months during the pandemic. We’ve been encouraged by the number of employees already using the 10% discounted tickets since the launch of the new scheme. By providing more flexible tickets and working to offer incentives to large employers through our Stagecoach Solutions initiative, we’re hoping this will encourage even more people to give the bus a try.”
