Secondary school pupils in Perth are benefitting from a new scheme which makes it easier for them to travel by bus to further their studies.
The Perth City Campus smartcard project was welcomed yesterday by Scottish transport minister Derek MacKay.
It is an initiative delivered through Transport Scotland, bus operator Stagecoach and Perth and Kinross Council.
The scheme means that around 110 pupils studying Advanced Highers at secondary schools and at Perth College can store their travel passes electronically on their Young Scot National Entitlement Cards.
The cards will be loaded with the smart tickets required for each pupil’s travel needs and can then be used on Stagecoach buses during the school day.
The Perth City Campus invoolves Perth Academy, Perth Grammar School, Perth High School and St John’s RC Academy, along with Perth College UHI.
Pupils previously used council-issued non-smart travel passes for inter-school travel.
Mr Mackay said: “This innovative project is a welcome development in smart ticketing which will benefit secondary pupils travelling to school by bus across Perth.”
Andrew Jarvis, managing director of Stagecoach East Scotland, added: “This project is the first step towards the introduction of smart ticketing on our network and we’re pleased to be involved in this partnership.”
The council’s lifelong learning committee convener, Bob Band, commented: “This new smart ticketing scheme will now make it even easier for pupils to travel between the schools and hopefully encourage more pupils to take part in the initiative.”