00:00The bus price cap will be applied across the Highlands and Islands and it's an intervention by the government to
00:07help with the cost of living challenges that people face.
00:10So for some individuals in the Highlands and Islands it will be a very substantial reduction in the cost of
00:16bus travel.
00:17In some cases it might be in excess of £25 will be the reduction that people will experience.
00:23It's also got the purpose of trying to encourage more people to use bus travel and to opt to use
00:29bus travel by reducing the cost.
00:31And obviously we'll monitor the effect of this but it's an attempt by the government to support individuals to manage
00:37the challenges they face in relation to the cost of living.
00:40I suppose we're in election season right now so you can well imagine some political opponents saying this lands at
00:45a convenient time.
00:46Is there anything in that?
00:46We set this out in our budget agreements in relation to the budget for the current financial year so it
00:54was prepared for and planned for a long time ago and it's now being implemented and we have the resources
01:00available to do that.
01:01So this has long been part of the government's efforts to try to tackle the cost of living and to
01:06improve use of public transport.
01:07You'll have no doubt seen and been briefed on a couple of interesting local projects as well.
01:12The first being the Highland Council in-house bus service obviously saw the D&E coach there today and you
01:18have seen the feasibility study or been shown a bit of it about the revamp of the city centre.
01:25Can you give me your reaction first to the in-house bus service that you saw because it seems to
01:29be having quite some success.
01:31I think it's important that local authorities where the opportunities exist for them to take forward proposals to deliver and
01:39deploy local bus services so that is a welcome initiative by Highland Council and obviously they have the scope and
01:46the opportunity to take that forward.
01:48In relation to the redevelopment plans for the bus station and the sites around about the railway station, I think
01:57those interconnected service points and those enhancements of the local infrastructure and amenity are really important and I look forward
02:06to seeing developments in the period ahead.
02:08And just to get one final response to the £2 fair cap, this actually will hopefully promote more active take
02:17-up of the Highland Council's bus service providing greater value for the taxpayer than the Highlands and elsewhere.
02:22Obviously the government is financially supporting the £2 fair cap so there's obviously revenue that can be available as a
02:30consequence of that step for Highland Council.
02:33So it helps to improve the sustainability of local bus services and it helps to increase usage and patronage for
02:39the services and that will be a welcome development in achieving our two policy objectives of tackling the cost of
02:46living and increasing the number of people who are using public transport services.
02:50First Minister, thank you.
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