Bus Services Operators’ Grant (BSOG)

Transport Scotland became responsible for administering the Bus Service Operators’ Grant (BSOG) scheme from 1 April 2010.

Commercial and Community Bus Operators may receive this grant based on the eligible kilometres they operate on registered local bus services.  Prior to 1 April 2010 BSOG was administered by the Department for Transport on a UK wide basis.

BSOG is paid to Commercial and Community Bus operators. The aim of BSOG is principally to benefit passengers.  It does this by helping operators to keep their fares down and enabling operators to run services that might not otherwise be commercially viable thus contributing to the maintenance of the overall bus network.  It also contributes to the operation of Community Transport organisations allowing people who cannot make use of conventional bus services to access local services.

Bus Operators must register with the BSOG Scheme before they can submit a claim for the grant.

Commercial Bus Operators, most of whom claim yearly in advance, receive four payments on estimate throughout their claim year; they then submit a certified claim form once the year has ended where any adjustments between anticipated and actual miles can be made. From 1 April 2011 all operators claim years will align with the financial year (1 April - 31 March). Information Pack for Commercial Bus Operators.

Community Transport Organisations always claim twice yearly in arrears for set 6 month periods (1 October-31 March and 1 April-30 September). For further details see Information Pack for Community Bus Operators.

On 1 April 2010 the links between fuel duty and BSOG was formally removed. Payments to Operators are calculated on the eligible kilometres run on local bus services, the total volume of fuel used and a pre-determined payment rate set by Transport Scotland (currently 41.21p per litre for all fuel types apart from bio-fuel which is 57.19p per litre). On 1 April 2010 an additional incentive was introduced for Low Carbon Vehicles (LCVs) For further information on the LCV incentive please refer to the letter to commercial operators. This incentive has now been extended beyond 1 April 2011.

The Scottish Government is currently reviewing BSOG to align it better with its strategic objectives.  More information will be provided in due course.

Contact Information

Email: bsog@transportscotland.gsi.gov.uk

See Contact Us for other ways of getting in touch.