The £600,000 mobility hub is located west of Inverness beside the Caledonian Canal and has been developed by HITRANS, The Highland Council and Stagecoach and has been part-funded by the Bus Partnership Fund.

It includes a bus stop, cycle parking, car parking (to support park and ride) and a HI Bike dock. The hub is served by regular bus services currently offering a City Centre service every 30 minutes. This frequency will increase to every 15 minutes in August. Long distance coach services to Skye and Fort William also use the hub.

Cabinet secretary for transport, Fiona Hyslop, said: “I’m pleased to join HITRANS, The Highland Council and Stagecoach to officially open the Torvean Mobility Hub.

“The integration of sustainable travel options at this new hub, the first of its kind in the Highlands, makes it easier for people to leave the car and to choose public transport and active travel in and around Inverness.

“This will support more sustainable journeys which are good for both people and planet – while allowing all those who live, work in or who are visiting Inverness to choose healthier and happier forms of transport.”

Chair of the Highland Council’s economy and infrastructure committee, Councillor Ken Gowans, said: “Since the Torvean Hub opened in May it has been providing a seamless interchange between different modes of transport, making it easier for people to use public transport to travel in and around the city of Inverness. It’s all about offering people an alternative choice to using a private car for all or part of their journey.”

HITRANS partnership director, Ranald Robertson, added: “It was a pleasure to welcome the cabinet secretary on her visit to Inverness today and showcase some of the great work being taken forward to improve the sustainable travel choices in the city. Measures to improve bus priority and offer real alternatives to the car like the HI-Bikes really mean that the city has a strong sustainable travel offer and the physical improvements including our mobility hubs are complemented by the GO-HI digital platform which is making it easier for people to plan and pay for their journeys.”

Earlier in the day the cabinet secretary visited two other active and sustainable travel projects.

The first stop was to see the Raigmore Bus Gate and to meet representatives involved in the project that provides a key link between Raigmore Hospital and Inverness Campus and the National Treatment Centre, the city centre and local residential areas.

Since the bus gate opened in March, buses now avoid congestion at the main hospital entrance and are able to provide a more reliable service, reducing operating costs and passenger frustration. Its introduction has been a long-standing aspiration of NHS Highland, HITRANS, The Highland Council and Stagecoach and was made possible through funding from the Bus Partnership Fund.

The second visit was to see the transformation currently underway along Riverside Way, not only a scenic leisure route for local residents, visitors, and commuters but is also a key connection into the Inverness City Centre.

Close to completion, the works include the provision of segregated cycling, wider footways and formalised parking, with benches, cycle parking and other environmental improvements to make walking, wheeling, and cycling journeys along this popular route more accessible and enjoyable for everyone.

The project is being run by The Highland Council with support of Transport Scotland, through the Places for Everyone programme which is administered by SUSTRANS.