First Bus, McGill’s, Stagecoach, West Coast Motors and JMB Travel are to cease issuing ticket receipts to concessionary bus users in Scotland from 20 February.
The joint initiative, led by the Glasgow Bus Alliance, means routes in Scotland will save up to 220 minutes per day. The Transport Scotland-endorsed move will also be good news for the environment and reduce on-board littering, with millions of printed slips of paper eliminated per month.
New software will allow the five bus operators to log each journey separately. Those using a National Entitlement Card will be unaffected except for no longer receiving a receipt. They will still need to inform the driver of their destination to allow for accurate recording.
Colin Napier, McGill’s Group Service Delivery Director, says: “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.”
Graeme Macfarlan, Commercial Director for First Bus Scotland, says the step is long-awaited, and will have big efficiency and environmental implications.
“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,” says Mr Macfarlan.
“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.”
