Analysis: The scheme offering free bus travel to Scotland’s elderly population is entirely defensible.

If the total cost of the scheme is an issue, a cap on an individual’s use of travel would be the best way to go, writes Iain Docherty

That solution would be much more in line with the principle of social inclusion than the suggestion that the distance of bus journeys should be limited for elderly people.

A cap could be for a certain number of trips a week – whether that’s from Glasgow to Aberdeen or just to the shops.

This would ensure that those who need to make trips to see their family members in other cities are protected.

• Iain Docherty is professor of public policy and governance at the University of Glasgow Business School