REVOLUTIONISING public transport would be one of the top priorities for Liberal Democrat candidate Ross Stalker if he is elected on December 12.

The 31-year-old Paisley and Renfrewshire North hopeful feels the current bus service on offer is not fit for purpose and wants to see radical change.

Mr Stalker acknowledges that public transport is a devolved issue but hopes he could use his position as MP to lever change.

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“I think things have been getting worse ever since McGill’s bought out Arriva,” he told The Gazette.

“With that lack of competition on the same service, standards have slipped.

“But then, if you want to travel around all of Renfrewshire, you have to switch between different bus services.

“I think it’s unacceptable that the only option for cross service pricing is the ZoneCard, because it’s only really useful for someone travelling five days a week and to and from the same zones.

“I’d certainly push for some sort of ‘smart card’ that could be used across services. I would lobby SPT (Strathclyde Partnership for Transport) quite hard for that because, if other areas can do it, why can’t we?”

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Not only does Mr Stalker want to see a change in the number of bus services and ticketing across the area, he also wants a change in ownership.

“The prospect of McGill’s services being cut on routes for which they are the only operator is not acceptable,” he stated. “If necessary, I’d want to see SPT replace those routes with ones that are publicly owned, either by the council or directly run by SPT. Again, if Edinburgh can have council-run buses, then why can’t we?”

In terms of commercial transport, Mr Stalker hopes to see more use of electric vehicles.

“If would be good if we can incentivise businesses to electrify their network,” he said.

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