This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
Listen
Funding to improve rural transport
30/06/2004
Fifteen voluntary projects are the latest to benefit
from the Rural Community Transport Initiative.
Funding totalling £941,030 has been awarded to provide
community transport in rural areas where public transport
is limited.
Community run transport projects help people living in
rural areas to be included in community life and access
vital services, according to Transport Minister Nicol
Stephen.
He said:
"Transport run by communities for groups or individuals
can often bridge the gap in remote rural areas, where
public transport links are limited, making a real
difference to the quality of life for local people.
"These awards totalling more than £940,000 will allow
voluntary organisations to provide transport projects, such
as community minibuses, dial-a-bus services and voluntary
car schemes, to people across the country who do not have
access to a car or regular public transport.
"These projects help a wide range of people including
the less mobile, elderly and youth groups living in rural
areas to be included in community life and to access many
services.
"The Executive is committed to improving transport in
rural areas. Scotland's communities have diverse transport
needs and this funding helps to secure and improve
transport links to rural communities, to ensure people do
not feel isolated."
Fifteen projects have been awarded £941,030 between
2004-08 from the Rural Transport Fund in the latest round
of the RCTI. A total of £10.5 million has been provided to
a total of 148 rural community transport projects over 10
rounds since the scheme was launched in August 1998.
This year's successful applicants cover a wide part
of Scotland. These include four projects in the Western
Isles, three in the Highlands, two each in Aberdeenshire
and Dumfries and Galloway, and one each in Argyll and Bute,
rural Ayrshire, Moray and Orkney. Nine of the awards are
for continuing funding to projects supported by earlier
rounds of the scheme.