COURIER OPINION: SNP must ensure young people in rural areas can enjoy free bus travel too

Free bus travel for under-22s is a brilliant initiative which should be universally popular across Scotland.

But figures published today show a strange variation of uptake in different parts of the country since the scheme was launched under controversial circumstances in January.

In Dundee, for example, the uptake rate is more than 53% – yet in neighbouring Angus it is just 18%.

Labour has branded the figures a “humiliation” for the SNP government and again criticised the decision of then-transport secretary Graeme Dey to discourage some youngsters for applying when the scheme was first launched due to the Covid restrictions in place at the time.

There have also been concerns about the complicated application process, with some teenagers reporting they had spent more than an hour inputting details and uploading documents.

Whatever the reason, it is abundantly clear many young people who could benefit from the scheme are currently being left out.

The SNP should make turning that situation around a top priority.