A report to West Lothian Council’s Environment and Sustainability Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel has explained the local impact of Transport Scotland’s decision to pause their Bus Partnership Fund (BPF) for 2024/25.

The West Lothian Bus Alliance (WLBA), of which the council is one of the partners, has been working on projects to improve bus journey times and provide greater reliability for users by providing bus priority infrastructure.

It has previous successfully bid for funds from Transport Scotland’s Bus Partnership Fund (BPF), and was awarded £227,725 to progress interventions which improve local bus travel. Feasibility and design work had already identified six locations in West Lothian for improvements: Alderstone Road and Almondvale Avenue in Livingston; Bathgate Town Centre; Armadale Cross; Whitburn Cross; and Broxburn and Uphall.

Transport Scotland have advised that the BPF has been paused for 2024/25 due to budgetary constraints, meaning the projects will be on hold until further funding becomes available.

Executive councillor for environment and sustainability Tom Conn, said: “We are disappointed that Transport Scotland’s Bus Partnership Fund has been paused for 2024/25. The West Lothian Bus Alliance was making good progress in progressing interventions that would deliver real benefits to bus users in West Lothian.

“Although the work is now on hold for next year, we hope that funding can be found for future years to allow the project to progress. Work has already been carried out to identify where improvements could be made, once funds become available once more.”