A report from Citizens Advice Scotland has shown that funding for bus services in Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire has been substantially cut in the past year.
Perth and Kinross Council reduced funding by £63,000 in 2015/16 with Clackmannanshire council also reducing their contribution by £60,000, which represented a huge 21% shortfall.
The report also revealed substantial gaps in the Sunday service connecting patients to hospitals with no service existing in Dollar, Muckhart and Glenochil.
Liz Smith believes that cuts are clearly being felt in Clackmannanshire where the local council has reduced their spend on subsidised travel by a whopping 21%.
Rural residents across Scotland also faced an average 40 minute round trip to their nearest bank branch, with college students in rural locations also facing a journey of over an hour to make it to lessons.
Commenting Liz Smith MSP said:
“Rural bus users in Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire are being short changed thanks to reduced services and a price hike for existing routes.
“Remote areas are getting the thin end of the wedge when it comes to both digital and physical infrastructure and this latest report has shown that public transport is also failing rural residents.
“Clackmanannashire council has reduced their spend on subsidised services by a huge 21% and this cut has not gone unnoticed by bus users. In Perth and Kinross, cuts of £63,000, has also impacted services significantly.
“De-population is a huge issue in rural parts of my region and unless bus services improve we stand no chance of retaining young people and attracting new residents and businesses to remote parts of Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire.
“I am therefore calling on local authorities across the Mid-Scotland and Fife region to think again when it comes to making cuts to subsidised bus services as these links are often vital lifelines for rural and elderly residents.”