This caught the attention of Jennifer McCarry, Chair of Glasgow Trades Council, who approached Get Glasgow Moving about launching a new campaign with a coalition of trade union, environmental, student and transport groups, among others. Free public transportation.
The aim was to raise the stakes ahead of COP26, the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow (originally scheduled for autumn 2020 but postponed until November 2021 due to the pandemic). etc. “Let’s free our city” was born.
manifesto
Our first step was to meet at the Unison trade union office for a power balance and analysis session. It was to look at how things could change within the Scottish political system, where we needed to apply pressure and what we needed to stand for.
We also worked with independent transportation consultant Jeff Turner. this short report, How much does the free bus to Glasgow cost and what are its benefits?published in March 2020.
We all know what happened after that. We went into lockdown and Free Our City meetings had to move online.
But we continued to meet on Zoom every few weeks to roll out the campaign, riding on the “build back better” feeling we all had at the beginning of the pandemic.
We asked Marcela Teran, who worked with the COP Climate Alliance, to design the logo and identity. and we wrote it ourselves manifestois based on Geoff’s research and previous research conducted by Transport for Quality of Life.
labor union
we made the following plans large scale online meeting Start a campaign. There were two local speakers and two international speakers. Xavier Dairene is Director of Urban Communities for the French city of Dunkirk, where he oversaw the rollout of free public transport in Dunkirk. And Katrin Winter, a citizen of Estonia’s capital Tallinn, experienced the benefits of free public transport.
The event was a huge success, with over 100 people joining on Zoom and many more watching. Facebook live stream. Several local Green politicians took part, including Martin Bartos, the then chair of the regional transport authority, Strathclyde Transport Partnership (SPT).
In March 2021, we organized another large-scale online event in the run-up to the Scottish Parliament elections in May.put free buses back on the agenda”.
The format was a “town hall meeting” in which representatives from local organizations were invited to speak about the challenges facing our current transportation system and the difference free public transportation would make to their lives. Politicians from the Scottish National Party (SNP), Labor and the Greens attended the hearing.
Representatives from Disabled People’s Organizations (DPAC), trade unions and community councils took part. All archived on our Facebook page If you are interested.
After the election, the Green Party formed a coalition with the SNP, but more on that later.
capitalize
But first, let’s talk about COP26. Absolute gift in campaignwe quickly learned that all participants will be given a free public transport pass.
Of course, this did two things:
1. It showed everyone that such a thing is possible. – Fully mainstream the concept of free public transport
2. Really pissed off Glaswegians. – If they can do it for their representatives, they can do it for us too!
We were able to take advantage of all of this. Featured in many media For the campaign.
inspire
Looking back over the past four years, we would like to highlight some of the key achievements of our campaigns.
nationwide – The Green Party joined the SNP coalition government in August 2021. Free bus pass scheme for under 22sScheduled for delivery in January 2022, Fair fare review It was finally handed over in March 2024, but unfortunately it was a complete “damp squib”.
locally – Green councilors secured £100,000 of funding in the city’s February 2022 budget, Scope of study on free public transport pilot. The vehicle was delivered in May 2024.
internationally – I was happy to be able to inspire you. free freight london campaign!
cheaper
When Glasgow City Council scoping survey Since its publication, we have begun to launch a new regional campaign, specifically urging the SPT to use its new powers to bring the bus network back under public control. did.
Better bus to Strathclyde It is part of a movement to do the same across the UK, with Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region and West Yorkshire leading the way.
The new Labor government is currently working on: accelerate this process across the English region through the new Better Buses Bill.
The fact of the matter is It is much easier and cheaper to provide free public transport If you own and operate your own bus.
baton
The cheapest and most efficient free public transport is There are no tickets issued.
Now that Fare Free London has been set up, just before May’s mayoral election, Sadiq Khan pledged If he wins, and Labor wins the general election, this is what he will do A new public bus company has been established for London.
If this were to become a reality, it would be much cheaper to make fares free. I think the heart of the Fair Free London campaign is to get him to keep his promises.
As we fight to bring buses back into public control, we pass the baton from Glasgow to London in the fight for free fares.
“Be realistic and ask for the impossible!”
this author
Ellie Harrison is an artist and activist based in Glasgow, Scotland. Harrison’s work It takes different forms: installation and performance/eventto lecture, live broadcast & political movement. She is a senior lecturer in contemporary art practice. Duncan at Jordanstone College of Art and Design and their friends higher education academy.
