How the decision was reached as to which routes were included in the road equivalent tariff ferry pilot scheme announced by the Minister fo…

The Scottish Government is delivering on a manifesto commitment to carry out a study into Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) with a pilot on the Western Isles to mainland routes. Mr Swinney announced details of the RET study during his visit to Stornoway on 13 August 2007. That announcement made it clear that we would carry out a study into RET in the context of ferry fares in Scotland and that it would include a pilot exercise on one or more of the Western Isles to mainland routes.
The consultants concluded that all the Western Isles to mainland routes should be included in the pilot. Focussing on the Western Isles to mainland routes initially will allow us to reach a view on the potential benefits of the scheme and to take informed decisions on the potential impacts across other routes.
Consideration will be given to the roll out of RET across the Clyde and Hebrides and Northern Isles networks once the impact of RET has been evaluated.