Alan Reid, Liberal Democrat MP for Argyll & Bute, has written to Scottish Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson, and called on the Scottish Government to give the Strathclyde Concessionary Travel Committee enough money to keep ferry fares free for concessionary card holders.

The Strathclyde Concessionary Travel Joint Committee decided to start charging concessionary card holders who live on islands and peninsulas a pound for a return trip on ferries to and from their islands and peninsulas.
Mr Reid said, “Concessionary card holders throughout Scotland get free bus travel. Ferry travel should be treated in the same way. Residents of islands and peninsulas use ferries to make the same essential trips that people in the rest of Scotland use buses for.

“The Strathclyde Committee has not been given enough money to keep ferry travel free for concessionary card holders. The Scottish Government must step in and give them the money they need to keep ferry travel free for concessionary card holders. Ferry travel should get the same concessionary travel as bus travel does.”

NOTE: Concessionary card holders who live on islands in the former Strathclyde Region or on the Cowal and Rosneath peninsulas get free ferry travel to or from their island or peninsula.