Stagecoach teams up with NHS in Scotland to offer discounted bus travel to Scotland’s key workers

16/06/2021
Fiona Doherty, Managing Director of Stagecoach West Scotland, and some of the team from Cumbernauld bus depot
  • Partnership to offer discounted bus travel to 140,000 NHS Scotland employees
  • Provides more sustainable solution to unnecessary car trips and expensive car parking
  • Supports Scottish Government’s climate change targets to reduce car km by 20% in the next decade
  • Part of a package of solutions from Stagecoach to offer more flexible public transport

STAGECOACH, the UK’s biggest bus operator, and the NHS in Scotland have partnered together to offer discounted bus travel to all 140,000 NHS staff in Scotland.

Using new technology, Stagecoach has opened up a discounted offer to all NHS employees in Scotland that offers a 10% discount on their bus travel. Employees can easily access the discounted tickets through a special section on the NHS Staff Benefits portal, which directly links to the Stagecoach app. This provides a simple and cost effective way for NHS employees to buy their bus tickets and gives them an opportunity to travel more sustainably.

Public transport, particularly buses, play a vital role in local communities and supporting the economy as well as meeting Scotland’s environment targets. The initiative will help to support the Scottish Government’s climate change targets, which aim to reduce car kilometres by 20% in the next decade. One double-decker bus can take up to 75 cars off the road and a 1% switch from cars would increase bus use by 12% or more.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “This discount will be appreciated by the many NHS staff who commute to healthcare facilities as part of their essential work providing healthcare for local communities.

“I welcome this collaboration between Stagecoach and the NHS to improve sustainable travel choices for NHS staff. Buses have a valuable role to play in our public transport network as we seek to reduce the use of cars by 20% by 2030, towards our goal of becoming a net zero nation by 2045.”

Sam Greer, Regional Director for Stagecoach Scotland, said: “Buses continue to play a vital role in the economy and supporting our local communities and are vital to help deliver the Scottish Government’s environment targets and ambitions.

 “As Scotland gets ready to host the COP26 climate change summit in November, there’s never been a more important time to help people switch from the car to more sustainable public transport and make real progress on climate change.

“Over recent years there have been a number of societal changes in how people work and want to spend their time, and this has been magnified in the past 12 months during the pandemic. We’ve been encouraged by the number of employees already using the 10% discounted tickets since the launch of the new scheme. By providing more flexible tickets and working to offer incentives to large employers through our Stagecoach Solutions initiative, we’re hoping this will encourage even more people to give the bus a try.”

Stagecoach operates over 1,200 bus and coach services across Scotland connecting communities with hospitals and other NHS facilities.  The new technology available means that Stagecoach can open up a discounted offer to all NHS employees in Scotland, expanding on the current local  NHS staff initiatives in place in some areas.

Stagecoach has developed a range of sustainable options as an alternative to its traditional bus services to help people continue their more flexible public transport commute. This includes tailored shuttle buses, on demand services and discounted corporate travel to support the growing desire of companies to put sustainability at the heart of their business.

Stagecoach is also continuing to make major investment in new technology to help improve the service it offers customers. Earlier this year, it announced it was to become the first UK bus operator to invest in the national roll-out of new bridge alert technology. New digital systems have also been introduced to manage the maintenance of its bus fleet, which is helping to provide greater availability and boost reliability, and it has delivered Britain’s biggest transit contactless programme.

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