North Ayrshire residents have a chance to “send a clear message that public buses should be in public control”, according to West of Scotland MSP Katy Clark.

The Labour MSP spoke out before a public meeting in Kilwinning on the future of transport services on Wednesday, May 1.

She urged the public to have a say on a new consultation on Strathclyde Partnership for Transport’s (SPT) regional bus strategy, which recommends pursuing re-regulation of Scotland’s broken bus network, setting up a regional franchise in the long term and developing a business case for a new publicly-owned bus company in Strathclyde.

In practice, a franchise would mean SPT controlling all fares, routes and ticketing. It would require firms to bid for contracts within a set and approved network of routes.

Ms Clark also encouraged respondents to urge SPT not to pursue a Bus Service Improvement Partnership with private bus companies, which is their medium term proposal, as this would “lock the region into a failed status quo”.

She recommended residents attend the public meeting being organised on Wednesday in Kilwinning by Better Buses for Strathclyde, a campaign organisation backed by a raft of charities, trade unions, student groups and experts, to discuss the issues more depth.

Irvine Times: No 11 bus

She said: “The West of Scotland has an expensive, unreliable and uncoordinated public transport network. Since Margaret Thatcher’s deregulation of services in the 1980s, we have seen key services cut, passenger numbers dwindle and fares spiral out of control.

“It does not need to be this way. SPT recognises the current model is broken, delivering profits for shareholders whilst cutting lifeline routes service users rely on.

“This new consultation gives the public a chance to send a clear message that public buses should be in public control.

“There is no doubt that cuts to SPT’s budget by the Scottish Government mean that progress may not be immediate, but we also need to send a message that persisting with broken partnerships with private companies will not improve our network and only lock the region into a failed status quo.

“I would encourage people to get along to next week’s public meeting on the new proposals and have their say in the consultation.

"For my part, I will be fighting for the funding and resources to make a publicly controlled Strathclyde bus network a reality.”

The public meeting will be held in Kilwinning Bowling Club on Wednesday, May 1, at 7.30pm.