THE council is eyeing a slice of a new £500m government fund as it looks to get more local people 'on the buses'.

The Scottish Government’s programme for 2019-20 includes a commitment to invest in improved bus priority infrastructure to tackle the impacts of congestion on bus services and raise bus usage.

Councillor Christopher Curley is keen to see Inverclyde picking up a share of the cash and spending it to promote public transport.

He asked a meeting of the environment and regeneration committee to consider putting together a short-term working group to find out what could be done locally.

Councillor Curley said: “This funding would be a good opportunity.

"Setting up a group would give us a good understanding of what we could do to make it easier for buses to be more reliable.

“If we want to be serious about the climate emergency we need to encourage people to use buses.

"Having an efficient bus service would help reduce our carbon footprint.”

Councillor Curley said he welcomed the unanimous decision of the committee to look at taking this issue forward.

He said: “I feel that it is very important to encourage public transport use for reasons of equity and to improve our environment.

"We must consider measures to prioritise bus use.

“The proposed £500m funding from the Scottish Government is very welcome in this regard.

"We need to be ready in Inverclyde to take advantage of it.”

Inverclyde Council told the Tele it was interested in bidding for a share of the funding and also highlighted work already done locally to help towards improving the road network.

A spokesperson said: “The council is certainly very interested in bidding for a share of the £500m available for bus priority routes and encouraging local people to use buses instead of their cars. "Councillors have decided to keep a watching brief on how the fund develops.

“The council, working with SPT, has already completed a number of projects to improve the road network and make it easier for bus operators to run services.

"These have included widening Chapelton Bridge and also widening the junction between Weir Street and Gibshill Road to make it easier for buses to get round it.

“A key issue for bus passengers is having the right information immediately to hand so that they can plan their journeys with confidence.

"Passengers in Inverclyde will also soon be able to get real time updates on when their bus will arrive thanks to a new, high-tech, £50,000 scheme, featuring GPS satellite tracking technology.”