Travellers in Scotland journeying to its more remote outposts will benefit from a 50% fare reduction from October as a pilot scheme is introduced.
The deal brokered between the Scottish Executive and ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne, will see subsidies totalling ”21.5m paid during a three year period to 2011.
Officially known as the Road Equivalent Tariff (RET), the pilot will attempt to equate ferry fares on the basis of the cost of travelling an equivalent distance by road in a bid to boost island economies.
The news comes hot on the heels of bridge tolls abolition across the country that will see the Scottish taxpayer fork out ”12m annually, and is sure to stoke the fires of yet further apparent disparities with English taxpayers.
”This is additional money to subsidise the RET,” a Scottish Executive spokesman told ABTN from Edinburgh. ”The answer lies in the budget ” you can”t pay for what you don”t have.
”Scotland has a financial settlement ” the budget passed successfully this month had money allocated [to the ferries]. It has been in the pipeline since this Administration was elected in May.”
Specifically, cars and small vehicles will be charged a flat fee of ”5 plus 60p per mile, rather than the current rate, passengers will pay ”2 plus 10p per mile and goods vehicles will be charged ”20p plus 18p per lane metre per mile.
These rates will represent around a 50% reduction on the current fares and will be available to all ferry users ” islanders, businesses and tourists.
”For years, our remote and fragile communities have been expressing concerns about the affordability of ferry travel,” said Scottish Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson.
”Expensive fares can be damaging not only to our local economies, but to our national economy and this Scottish government wants to take action. I would urge local authorities and the economic agencies to grasp this opportunity and build on the pilot.”
Initial study routes from 19 October will be: Ullapool-Stornaway; Uig-Tarbert (Harris)/Lochmaddy (North Uist) and Oban-Castlebay (Barra)/ Lochboisdale (South Uist) and Oban to Coll and Tiree.