Many thanks to reader bringiton for alerting me to this.
Research undertaken for Transport Scotland in 2022, by Ernst and Young LLP, compared the ferry systems operating in Scotland, Canada (BC), Norway, Australia and New Zealand.
The Norway service is a bit of an outlier with twice as many passengers per year than the next biggest, BC with 22m and 9 times greater than in Scotland with only 5m. Also, key information on subsidies could not be collected for the Norwegian or the New Zealand systems.
Most striking is the level of subsidy per passenger. In Scotland, it averages £29.80 per passenger journey. In Canada (BC), it is only just over half at £16.36 and in Australia, only just over one-tenth at £3.86. Norway figures are not presented.
Also fascinating, is the ratio of vessels per passenger journey. In Scotland, there is on average, 1 ferry for every 161 290 journeys; in New Zealand, 1 for every 200 000 journeys; in Australia, 1 ferry for every 468 750 journeys; in Canada only 1 ferry for every 628 571 journeys.
In terms of age, interesting in the light of media headlines here, Scotland’s ferries are the newest with an average of 22 years, with Australian ferries at 24, Norwegian at 26 and the Canadian ferries at 35!
Finally and an important measure of the value of a system to communities, how many locations and routes are served?
Despite having by far the fewest passenger journeys (5m), other than in New Zealand, in Scotland, 52 terminals and 29 routes are served.
In Canada, 47 terminals and 25 routes are served.
In Australia, only 38 terminals and 9 routes are served.
In New Zealand, 21 terminals and 24 routes are served.
This research clearly demonstrates that, after 16 years of SNP-rule, the people in Scotland’s islands benefit from a far more generous taxpayer-funded service than anywhere comparable in the world.
There are other ferry services for islands in Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines but given their deadly qualities, I doubt that any island representatives in Scotland would think it fair to compare with them.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
This recent analysis is an excellent ‘find’. Lots of evidence provided to enable BBC Scotland’s investigations team to make an objective, informative, timely and topical programme for TV on transport services provision for island communities – don’t you think?
The BC Ferries comparison is useful. It may also be relevant to note that many (c.20%) of its routes connect parts of the island of Vancouver (population c. 864,000) to Metro Vancouver (population c.662,248) on the BC mainland.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Good to see bringiton’s post being promoted, it’s going to come in handy for the next round of ferry stories…
LikeLiked by 1 person
Totally OT, but as follow up to my comments on the “Police Scotland’s human rights record – Two cases do not make a ‘storm’” article, HMS James Cook have finally responded in the last hour with “Humza Yousaf dismisses criticism over IndyRef spending” https://archive.ph/1iv1f
Compared to Jack’s quotes in the National, eg “I hope you and your ministerial colleagues will agree to cease being distracted by independence and, instead, work with us to deliver for business and people in Scotland”, James went with less confrontational quotes to preserve his chances of a gong…
LikeLiked by 1 person