The report, ‘SPT: Delivering for South Lanarkshire’, shows almost £6 million of capital funding was awarded to support a range of sustainable transport projects in the area between 2017 and 2021.

And £2.5 million of additional money was also awarded to South Lanarkshire Council in 2021/22 to support their delivery.

A number of local projects have been assisted by SPT investment.

The local authority’s long-established Route Action Plan has benefited from £1.3 million from SPT.

That has helped deliver road safety improvements on more than 30 strategic routes across South Lanarkshire. Latest figures show these have helped reduce road traffic casualties to their lowest ever level.

Park and ride facilities in Carstairs, Cambuslang and Hairmyres have been given nearly £3 million in funding, while a further £1.5 million has been committed to reducing congestion on bus routes.

Strategic cycle routes have received £1.2 million as part of a bid to increase active travel, while bus infrastructure like modern display boards and new shelters has received almost £500,000.

The Lanark Interchange will also benefit from a £750,000 SPT fund, allowing the council to reach the major milestone of acquiring land to relocate the park and ride to Alston’s Yard.

And six community transport initiatives including those in Blantyre, East Kilbride and Larkhall have been awarded £620,000.

Since 2019, SPT has scheduled 97,000 trips on the MyBus service in South Lanarkshire, while 7,000 children are taken to and from school each day, the report showed.

South Lanarkshire is one of is one of 12 council areas to benefit from funding provided by SPT, which also covers East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, West Dunbartonshire and the Helensburgh and Lomond area of Argyll and Bute. 

The transport body pointed out that the cross-council boundary nature of transport and travel means investment in one area will benefit all residents who travel for work or leisure. 

Across the west of Scotland, SPT has supported 6.1 million bus station departures across Buchanan, Hamilton, East Kilbride, Greenock, Braehead and Silverburn in recent years. 

It has sold 515,000 ZoneCard tickets since 2017/18 across the Subway and participating rail and bus operators, and 43.7 million Subway journeys have been taken since 2017. 

It has supported 200 bus services run by around 20 operators on behalf of SPT, and has 33 MyBus services operating in the west of Scotland. 

SPT has also invested in several regional projects in recent years, including the Subway Modernisation Project, its ongoing bus stop and shelter upgrade programme and its Real Time Passenger Information roll out.

Valerie Davidson, chief executive of SPT, said: 

“We continue to deliver a range of services in South Lanarkshire and across the region either directly or on behalf of councils.

“As this report shows, we have invested £8.4 million over the last five years in sustainable transport projects in the area.

“SPT’s activities support the west of Scotland’s regional transport network to the benefit of all residents who travel across the area.

“While the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in significant impacts on our operational activities due to reduced travel demand, the majority of services were maintained to ensure transport remained in place for key workers and those making essential trips.”