Frustrated Glaswegians demand a better transport system
People-led campaign; Get Glasgow Moving, hosted a Public Transport husting to challenge councillors on the city’s public transport issues.
In the run-up to the Glasgow City Council Elections on 4 May 2017, issues were highlighted during a debate between city residents and councillors on the current state of what the residents believe is an inefficient public transportation system.
The husting took place at Renfield St Stephen’s Parish Church on Bath Street where issues were raised about the poor governance of the current privatised rail, bus and bike system.
Residents said that Glasgow transport companies were competing on congested routes rather than working together to serve the whole city.
The councillor’s panel included elected members of the UK parliament which comprised of Richard Stalley of Liberal Democrats, Cathy Milligan of Independent candidate for Castlemilk against Austerity, Alistair Watson of Scottish Labour, Kenny McLean of SNP and Martin Bartos of the Scottish Green Party.
Glaswegians attending the debate compared the city’s current condition of public transport with Transport for London, a ‘publicly-owned’ transport authority, which unlike Glasgow, puts people first and has power over the capital’s entire transport network.
People attending the husting also proposed a smartcard system, similar to London’s “oystercard” to make it simple for the public to change between buses, tubes, trains and bikes for affordable and sustainable transportation.
Glasgow’s Subway is the only part of the network still publicly-owned by SPT and remains the only underground in the whole world never to have been extended further.
Martin Bartos, member of the Scottish Green Party said, “It’s not SPT that has failed. It’s the transport governance from central government that has failed.”
During a transport debate in Perth, one of the members of Get Glasgow Moving campaign, Paul Sweeney said, “We have to re-learn the lessons of our brilliant history and we have to develop a public transport system for Glasgow now, and it’s only labour people who can do it.”
